You'll never be alone again
by CaptainPlum
Summary: Rewrite of 'You should never be alone'. Isabella is creative individual confined to Jasper because of her panic attack disorder though she wishes to travel the world. Smokescreen is a young autoboot rookie who just arrived on Earth and is getting used to being part of Team Prime. Time together proves just how much they need one another and may be quite fortunate in the war.
1. Chapter 1: Welcome to Earth

**You'll never be alone again**

**Chapter 1: Welcome to Earth**

**A/N: Hello lovely readers. Now some people may recognise this a little. The title has changed a little but the storyline is pretty much the same with a few small changes. This is a rewrite of a fanfic that is still published on my profile called 'You should never be alone!" this fic was never finished because I was quite unhappy with it. And so comes this creation. I hope that it is better now and that people enjoy it just as much as the previous version. The song used in the fic is Never Alone by Barlow Girl, it doesn't belong to me. All rights to their respected owners. But it is recommended to listen to the song when it comes up in the story. Hope you all enjoy. R&R!**

Smokescreen had to admit that Earth was nice. It was pretty in its own kind of way and more peaceful than what he remembered from the last moments on Cybertron but he also thought it was weird. He learned immediately from the others that humans weren't as advanced in technology and weren't as open about other life forms from other planets. From what he was told he gathered that the only way the humans have had experience with extra-terrestrials is through fiction – something the humans made up. He had already met three humans, they were teenagers and according to the autobots valuable members of the team. In his processor though he didn't quite see how small humans could help at all.

Since he arrived on Earth, however, things have been go, go, go. The decepticons were quick to make their presence known on the planet; granted he was in a pod that was sending out a signal to anyone to receive. He had done his part though and fought them off while rendezvousing with the autobots in the process.

Since then he had been introduced to this new planet and its people. Rules were quickly made known by Optimus Prime himself about how he was to go about protecting Earth and its inhabitants. The first rule was one that he knew he would have to get used to which was being a robot in disguise. It meant that he had to obey the human's traffic laws and customs; he wasn't allowed to transform out in the open and not get involved in human affairs. Something he believed he could do quite easily. He was more amazed that he was able to meet Optimus Prime and now he was under the Primes command which he considered a huge honour. The rookie wanted to set out and prove to Optimus that he would be a valuable autobot to the team, no matter his past mistakes.

After he had been subject to crazed questions from Miko and a few from Jack and Raf he watched as the teenage humans congregated with the bots and couldn't help but notice how friendly they all were. Granted he'd only just got to Earth and they had been on the planet longer than him but he saw something between them that made him feel a little left out. Raf could understand Bumblebee and the two of them spent a lot of time together much like Bulkhead and Miko and Jack and Arcee did. Rachet explained to him that the three bots were the teenager's guardians, it did explain a lot. Each of them obviously having formed a tight friendship. It wasn't long after he had observed this that Optimus had assigned him to get used to the planet. He wanted Jack to teach him about traffic laws and how to be a robot in disguise. Personally, Smokescreen wasn't bothered but if it was going to occupy his time in between fighting Decepticons and help prove to Optimus his worth then he was all for it.

It hurt him a little that Arcee was quick to distrust him with her charge but he would prove himself. Jack quite happily hopped into his alternative mode – a sleek Indy 500 race car. His doors were chequered blue, red and white with big 38s written over them. He figured it was a good disguise but Arcee wasn't as supportive of his decision as he would have liked. The undermining feeling he got from the others lowering his self-esteem. It made him recall his last days on Cybertron when he yearned to use what he had learnt in boot camp to fight the Decepticons in the Great War but was assigned as security detail at the Iacon Hall of Records. When others thought little of him and wanted him out of the way.

Those memories were the saddest, particularly when his last moment on Cybertron was where he was knocked unconscious.

He shook his thoughts away as he concentrated on driving on the roads of Jasper, Nevada. He faintly heard Jack talking about traffic laws which he had to obey but couldn't help his drifting thoughts. He had to admit it did annoy him that he couldn't just go as fast as he wanted, put the pedal to the metal, but he wanted to impress Optimus and the way to do that so far would be to go the speed limit for now. Prove that he could fit in with this new environment.

The little tests that the raven haired boy, in his driver's seat, was giving him did seem a little petty though. He did notice the people of Jasper going about their daily business unaware of his presence or the threat the Decepticons presented. It made him chuckle as some of them gaped at his car form. He must have chosen correctly to get such reactions.

His chuckle got Jacks attention. The teenage boy frowning knowing that the rookie probably wasn't listening. There was nothing that he had said that was remotely funny "Smokescreen, are you listening?"

He swerved a little as he tried to pay attention to the human inside him "oh yeah yeah. Always obey the speed limit, drive on the correct side of the road and don't draw too much attention to myself" he recalled generically what Jack had spoken about earlier.

Jack sighed knowing that Smokescreen was mostly likely not interest or he was distracted. The rookie hadn't been around long enough for him to know if there was something wrong with him or if this was just typical Smokescreen. "You have any questions before we review what you've learned?"

"Actually yeah. What if I'm being tailed by a Decepticons around a bunch of humans?"

Jack sort of knew the answer to that "from what I've gathered from being around the Autobots so much; your secret is not more important that saving innocent lives. If anything you should get the cons away from anyone they would endanger before engaging. You'll want to check with Optimus on that as well. He is the boss"

Smokescreen understood, these rules complicated things. "So does having a guardian bring you closer with Arcee? What about the other Autobots?"

At first Jack was confused at what Smokescreen was addressing "I suppose having Arcee has my guardian makes her more important to me, I mean she poses as my motorcycle but she more than that. I guess we each share a unique bond with our guardians but that doesn't mean I look at the others any less" Smokescreen remained silent as he was processing how Jack was explaining it. "Like Raf has a strong friendship with Bee but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a close friendship with anyone else. He cares for Bulkhead as well." He supposed it made sense but he still couldn't get his processor round it. Optimus and Ratchet didn't have charges but he guessed that the two of them had bond with the teens just like the guardians do with their charges "Perhaps it would be easier for you to understand if you had a charge of your own. Unfortunately, we're all out of humans. You'll get it one day" Jack tried to reassure him.

If Smokescreen was in his bi-pedal form he would have nodded. He was already tired of this activity and wanted to return to the base.

_"I waited for you today_

_But you didn't show_

_No no no_

_I needed You today_

_So where did You go?_

_You told me to call_

_Said You'd be there_

_And though I haven't seen You_

_Are You still there?_

_I cried out with no reply_

_And I can't feel You by my side_

_So I'll hold tight to what I know_

_You're here and I"m never alone..."_

It was soft and delicate. The words sung with such care. As the notes of the voice hit his audio receptors Smokescreen braked hard and came to an abrupt stop. His tyres screeched making anyone's ears ring that were nearby. Jack felt his seatbelt tighten as his body was suddenly flung forward slightly only to be caught by the safety device. Taking in a deep breath from the frightening experience he looked around to see why Smokescreen had stopped but didn't see anything. There was no reason for the Indy 500 to just stop as it did which confused him; the raven haired boy sunk down in the seat as his cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.

There were people all around even some in their cars that were looking at the race car in confusion. There was also a few angry honks from other vehicles behind them as their drivers drove around them not pleased with them just sitting in the middle of the road "Smokescreen! Move!"

Smokescreen heard the teen but wasn't really interested in what he had to say "but didn't you hear it?"

"Hear what?" Jack tried to hide himself just in case anyone saw him. The last thing he wanted was for someone to identify him inside Smokescreen; there was no way he could explain this "Look you can't just stop in the middle of the street. If you need to stop you're supposed to pull over to the side in a safe place" Jack tried to explain but it was clear that Smokescreens attention was elsewhere.

"But the voice…the singing" he tried to excuse

"What singing? The only voice I can hear is the angry shouts – can you please move?"

_"And though I cannot see You_

_And I can't explain why_

_Such a deep, deep reassurance_

_You've placed in my life_

_We cannot separate_

_'Cause You're part of me_

_And though You're invisible_

_I'll trust the unseen"_

There is was again. It didn't sound too close but it wasn't far off either. "Did you hear it then?" Smokescreens sudden burst of voice made Jack jump slightly as he was trying to get Smokescreen to move from the middle of the street.

"I don't know what you're hearing, Smoke" Jack sighed. If he wasn't sat inside the rookies vehicles form he would be on his knees begging the Autobot to move. But before he could say something more to get Smokescreen out of the middle of the road the gear shifted and Smokescreen pivoted around, creating smoke with his tyres as he turned. When he was facing the opposite way he finally started driving again but it wasn't as Jack would have hoped. The teen put his hands over his eyes hoping that if he couldn't see it then it really wouldn't be happening "er Smokescreen…you're now driving on the wrong side of the street"

The rookie really was growing tired of the list of rules the humans had that he now had to follow, his dashboard lit up as he groaned in annoyance. Hoping to rectify the situation he quickly switched lanes so that he was now driving on the right side; he heard a sigh of relief from Jack but kept his concentration of the sound of someone singing. Turning quickly around a corner, faster than Jack would have liked, they identified the source of the majestic sound. Jack finally hearing the singing too and admitting it was nice.

_"I cried out with no reply_

_And I can't feel You by my side_

_So I'll hold tight to what I know_

_You're here and I'm never alone"_

Smokescreen slowed as they saw a young woman walking down the pathway by the road; the singing coming from her. She had deep red hair that was tied back in a ponytail whereas she was wearing black three quarter length jeans with a purple tank top. Her feet fit into cute black slip on shoes that she walked gracefully in. The rookie couldn't actually believe it – he was an Autobot. A warrior and yet he couldn't ignore the sheer beauty of this voice. It could sing in perfect harmony that no music was needed to accompany it.

"We cannot separate 

You're part of me 

And though you're invisible 

I'll trust the unseen

I cried out with no reply 

And I can't feel you by my side 

So I'll hold tight to what I know 

You're here, and I'm never alone"

The bot was actually disappointed when the song finished and the woman with red hair walked into a shop. He made sure to gently pull up outside the store, at the side of the road this time.

Jack inspected where they had come to a stop. He was happier this time now that they weren't drawing unwanted attention to themselves. He looked to the sign above the shop that boldly read 'Arts and crafts' that was written in multiple colours and on either side of the name was a paint pallet accompanied with a paint brush and pencil in the shape of an 'X'. Jack recalled coming to this very store when a project at school deemed him in need of supplies. "Unless you're planning on getting inspired with creativity I don't see why we're here" there was no reply. It was clear that Smokescreen was focussing on something else. Jack looked into the shop to see the woman they had followed. "Well you heard Isabella singing and found her, big achievement. Can we go now?" Jack tried to emphasise the achievement by raising his hands.

"You know her?" the rookies attention then turned to learning more about the woman.

The teen was rather confused as to why Smokescreen was so interested in her. Hadn't he heard someone sing before? Or even music. He was tempted to message Miko and get Smokescreen to experience her guitar solos back at the base. He wondered if Smokescreen would enjoy it or beg to be taught traffic laws again. He couldn't help but chuckle at the thought "Of course; Isabella used to babysit me. She'd sing to me until I fell asleep or to just try and get my tantrums to stop. She's a close family friend; mum invites her round of dinner every now and then"

They continued to watch the woman known as Isabella inside the shop for a good ten minutes. She seemed occupied with purchasing items at first and then just having a general conversation with the shopkeeper. After another good few minutes, where Jack wondered how Smokescreen could have so much interest in his old babysitter, the red head finally exited the store and her emerald green eyes focussed immediately on the familiar face of Jack Darby. "Hey little Jackie, how've you been?" her voice turned really soft as if she was talking to a toddler.

Jack blushed and rubbed the back of his head at the nickname that she knew he was embarrassed at. "I'm good, just out for a drive" he still allowed her to call him it when they were alone; something Jack had to remind himself that they weren't alone. Hoping to move things along so Smokescreen wouldn't pay attention to the name, Jack swiftly got out of the Indy 500 and moved over to the red head. The two smiled as they embraced in a friendly hug. "So where have you been? I haven't seen you around in like a month"

Retracting from the gesture Jack leaned on Smokescreen as they engaged in conversation. He figured the rookie wouldn't mind considering that he was so interested in his friend. "I just got back from New York actually, spent the month out there. This company that makes children's toys hired me to design the images on the boxing of their products"

"That's great. A big step up for you I imagine"

Isabella had the widest grin on her face "it is, it means that my work is actually good. They're sending me their essentials that they want on the product and then I get to create away and send it back to them. But at least I'm not taking peoples orders" she joked about Jacks job "you make your mother very proud with what you're doing. Not many would put up with working with fast food" she was going to continue but her eyes glanced to the car that she hadn't looked at properly and she stopped. "Jack Darby, when were you going to tell me you bought an Indy 500" she moved to the side of the car and bushed her finger tips on the doors tracing the large '38' "why do you even need the car; the motorcycle you had was perfect"

Jack again rubbed the back of his head. Something he often did when he was nervous "I still have it but I just figured it was time to move to four wheels as well"

"It's beautiful, Jack. Your job can't pay that well, you must have been saving for ages" having looked the car over she had to admit she was impressed "June wasn't that happy about you getting that motorcycle, so how does she feel about this?" she gestured to the sweet looking race car.

The teen didn't quite know how to reply. His mum knew of the Autobots particularly Arcee but he figured she'd be unhappy to lie with him about owning a race car. Especially considering that Isabella was around their home every so often but he had no choice "mum's cool with it, so long as I don't abuse it" he had to say something he thought his mum might say. Considering Arcee was technically confiscated from him by his mum, when she didn't know about the transformers, just so he would take more responsibility with his job and school work. It seemed like something his mum would say.

"She's right. Focus on your studies and not racing it like Vince does" Jack could sense the bitter tone in her voice as she spoke the guy's name.

"He still bothering you?"

Isabella sighed and tilted her head as she could have sworn she saw the Indy 500 shift a little but she shook it off knowing it wasn't possible "when doesn't he bother me? My condition isn't funny, it's serious. I mean I have to take medication every day for it, my parent's think me burden for it. I still don't get why he makes fun of me and then decides to flirt with me – makes no sense" the sentence started off sad but then Isabella went into a rant about Vince.

Jack smiled at her ranting to which she playfully hit his arm "he's an idiot; try not to let him get to you"

"This coming from the one that Vince hates the most, you should learn to take your own advice. I better get going. I'll see you around Jackie" she grasped tightly the things she had bought in the store before walking off with a quick wave of her hand.

"See you, bells" Jack smiled as he watched the red head walk away. She had a shoulder bag rest on her shoulder and a small carrier bag in her hand with the items she had purchased in the arts and crafts shop.

He had enjoyed the little conversation with the young woman and had almost forgot that Smokescreen had been there the entire time. He cleared his throat to try and shake it all off before moving back round to sit in the driver's seat.

Smokescreen, on the other hand, had sat through their whole conversation and hadn't taken his gaze off of Isabella. It was like he had been under a spell when she sang and couldn't help but follow. As soon as he found her he was memorised, he hadn't imagined that a human such as her could cause him to act so weak. He hadn't seen such a fiery red colour that was her hair and such a glistening green colour that was her eyes. He didn't know why but he wanted to learn more about her. Once she was out of sight Smokescreen was able to shake everything off and then remembered Jack, who was now waiting on him. He quickly pulled away to re-join the traffic "care to elaborate why you're so interested in Isabella?" Jack was the first to speak.

"Not really, Jackie" Jacks face immediately flushed red.

"It's a nickname she gave me when I was young and she babysat me…and it stuck" he folded his arms defensively.

Smokescreen laughed aloud as he kept his concentration on the road ahead. "What was she talking about when she spoke of taking medication and a condition?"

"That's not really my place to say, Bells takes it really hard. She was born with an extreme disorder where she has to take medication every day to help her cope with it. The medication doesn't null her disorder; it just lessens the blow of it on her everyday life. And this bully at school likes to make fun of it all" Jack didn't want to go into depth too much in fear of feeling like he was going behind her back. Then again there wasn't any way Smokescreen was going to be able to actually meet her and have a conversation with her. With the whole secret and the rules, Smokescreen was never going to have the opportunity to get to know her the usual way.

"He sounds like an idiot. Someone should put him in his place" the rookie had the urge to meet this Vince and teach him a lesson "so what's she like?"

Jack laughed at the rookie with all the questions on his former baby sitter "Isabella's kind and caring. She always sees the best in people, I've never seen her lose her cool even with my temper tantrums when I was young. She's got a good heart; the only problem is she always doubts herself. She's creative as a photographer and an artist. She works to create designs for products and by the sound of it she's just landed a big contract with a big company in New York" Jack had to stop himself. Given that the woman in question was eight years older than him, he could still continue to talk about her.

He had memories replaying in his head of the good times he had with her. There was the time that she agreed to read his favourite story to him over and over until he fell asleep and he had been determined to stay up. There was also the time she picked him up from school when he was sick; it was raining that day and to cheer him up she jumped in the puddles with him all the way home.

Smokescreen had been listening intently to Jack and couldn't help but think that Isabella sounded like a model citizen. It gave him comfort to hear about her. It sounded like she was really living her life. He had to put the thoughts to the back of his processor when Jack brought up going quickly over what he had learned on their way back to the base. Going back to the others was something he was excited for – he'd had enough learning about humans for one day.

To exit the town and go out into the desert towards the Autobots base he turned a corner relatively fast which made the raven haired boy grip the seat beneath him. "Okay intersection let's review" the traffic lights ahead of them was something simple he could go over "Lights green" Jack then waited for Smokescreen to answer what he should do.

"Green for go" replied quickly.

The lights didn't stay green though. As they were getting closer it went yellow "and yellow" Jack looked to the steering wheel for an answer.

"Go faster!" Smokescreen sounded too excited and sped up which made Jack nervous.

The teen should have known Smokescreen would have acted in such a way. This was a bot that decided to have a race car as an alt form. As they were coming upon the intersection the rookie gave it all he had to speed up until the lights turned red. At the new colour and the sudden speed they were going Jack began to freak out "woah, woah Smokescreen!" his eyes widened as the speed limit was well and truly broken.

Just before they could zoom past the intersection and hopefully not crash, Smokescreen put on the brakes and skidded to a stop right on the white line. The rookie could feel the heat in his tyres and it made him want to speed around. Much like earlier Jack jerked forward but was caught by the seatbelt while he held a death like grip on the steering wheel.

Smokescreen then began to laugh as they were then waiting for the lights to change again. "Just messin around" the bots voice cracked as he laughed although Jack wasn't very impressed by his performance.

"Ha ha" he pouted.

Jacks attention was then drawn to approaching skidding noises and hated the feeling that he knew who it was. Looking back on the mirror above the dashboard and then behind the seat he confirmed his suspicions of who it was. It was obvious that it was him as he pulled up next to them in his own car that he always showed off to everyone. It was funny that he was oblivious to how sick of his boasting everyone was. Jack immediately slouched down in the seat in an attempt to hide, hoping to avoid being seen as well as pulling the window up. Smokescreen noticed this and the small whisper that suggested something bad.

"What is it? Cons?" He asked getting a little giddy at the thought of going out into battle

"Just someone from school I'd rather not talk to" Jack replied as he kept his head down. "It's Vince" Although it didn't help the guy had seen him already and after noticing the race car that he had pulled alongside. After recognising Jack in the driver's seat the bully couldn't help himself as his hand dove into a paper bag from a fast food restaurant. This had to be one of the worst moments ever for Jack. He always hated running into Vince on the road mainly because Vince would always try to make himself look cooler than he actually was with his car. It was clear that he was jealous of others "Drive" Jack whispered wanting to get as far away as possible and to avoid a confrontation.

"Red light teach. No can do" now he paid attention to the rules of the road, when he wanted the bot to break them just this once. He took a gamble by sitting up and looking over to Vince only to see a devilish grin along his lips and to receive burger throw at the window before the guy sped off quickly like he was a coward.

"Seriously" Smokescreen wasn't happy. Not long ago he was complimented for being beautiful by Isabella and now he had human food on him.

"Just let it go" Jack sighed as he recomposed his posture in the seat. It was clear he was used to this sort of treatment.

Smokescreen drove off then as well, having only just realised the lights were now green. This time he obliged to follow the rules that Jack had taught him, going at the speed limit and not over. It made him think back to Isabella, something he couldn't imagine her doing – breaking the rules. Although he had only just met her and she didn't know about him yet so he considered those thoughts a bit useless "Are you kiddin me? Where's your self-respect? We gotta stand up for ourselves and for Isabella"

"We also have to follow Optimus's rule" Jack then began to shake his head to emphasise his point "it's not just about protecting humans, you can't harm them either"

"Who said anything about harming?"

Jack had to admit he had wanted to get his own back on Vince for a long time but he never had the guts to do it, especially because he knew the consequences. The idea that Smokescreen was posing was very tempting as well as having a partner in crime. He thought about it and didn't really see the harm in getting a little pay back in a way that would make everyone feel better. It was time to give Vince a taste of his own medicine.

His main argument for defence here was that they weren't breaking any rules of any kind. Besides Smokescreen had learnt as much as he should have. They had made progress and now they were doing something for the benefit of the community.


	2. Chapter 2: Adrenaline rush

**You'll never be alone again**

**Chapter 2: Adrenaline rush**

**A/N: The song in this chapter is 'Unbreakable' by Fireflight. **

Smokescreen really didn't know what he had to do to prove himself to the other members of Team Prime. Arcee didn't seem to accept him. In his spark he felt like he hadn't been given a chance; the femme having judged him immediately. Bulkhead showed dislike to him on the grounds that it felt like he was being replaced – the rookie could understand this though it still hurt. And Bumblebee made it clear with his thoughts of Smokescreen being too inexperienced and careless. It was only Optimus and Ratchet that hadn't made their thoughts of the new recruit clear but he got the feeling that it wasn't any better than the others.

He didn't think it would be a cake walk joining the team but he didn't think it would be so difficult either. Granted he made a mistake but everyone made mistakes; he found it hard to believe that none of them had done something that was wrong.

He had escaped the confines of the base and went out on patrol around Jasper just so he could clear his head. He had gotten a little pay back with Vince and his precious car with Jack, much to Arcee's dismay and had continued to have some fun with the teen. In his defence he was still learning about humans and their customs – he had passed Jacks traffic laws review so at least he was doing as originally ordered.

He did understand what he had done wrong just recently though. He understood that he had messed up when he considered and actually went along with taking Jack into battle. He had agreed with Ratchet to do a little recon on Decepticon activity but had gone against protocol to take the teen with him as well as engaging the Decepticons in battle without considering Jacks safety and without calling for backup. He wouldn't admit aloud that it seemed like a good idea at the time; it was the legendary Star sabre after all that the cons had uncovered. They had, however, been able to fix his mistake. Jack was safe and Optimus had been able to recover the relic. The most pleasing part was seeing Megatron and his army in the warship retreating in fear of the power that they now had. The scales of the war they had been fighting had tipped in their favour.

What was more exciting but made the rookie slightly nervous was the information that Optimus Prime had obtained from a small meeting with Alpha Trion, once he had possession of the Sabre. Smokescreen swerved on the road slightly as he lost his concentration.

Surely it wasn't possible.

…flashback…

_When the battle had been done the Autobots celebrated a victory and the fact that they had seen Megatron run scared of the Star Sabre. Arcee had been more focussed on the safety of her charge. She had made it clear that she was disappointed in Jack for agreeing to go with Smokescreen but she was more annoyed at the rookie himself for being irresponsible and suggesting it in the first place. _

_They had all returned to the base relatively quickly where everyone then began to notice that their leader was unresponsive. He had the Star Sabre held up as his optics were completely focussed on the sword relic. Each of them called to Optimus but he seemed more like he was in a trance of some kind so they were patient as they waited for him to come out of the trance like state. He must be communing with Alpha Trion which astounded them all. The mech had perished on Cybertron at the hands of the Decepticons. He was wise and had great knowledge of the history of Cybertron, including the ancient relics that they were know hunting for. This was greatly proven where Optimus was now receiving a message from Alpha Trion; a mech that was long since dead. _

_It wasn't long before Optimus seemed to be self-aware of his surroundings again. He groaned as the experience had taken a lot of concentration and energy out of him. The Autobot leader fell on to one knee as he slightly felt the tiredness overwhelm his body but he wouldn't let it get to him. Ratchet was immediately by his side as well, he was filling his role as the Autobots medic and Optimus's oldest friend. "Easy Optimus" Ratchet reassured Prime as he helped him to stand back on his over feet. _

_Optimus Prime steadily stood himself up, with the aid of Ratchet, the star sabre still safely in his grasp. Smokescreen then brought himself forward to talk to his leader. His innocents and inexperience reflected in his words "so did Alpha Trion ask about me?" He was cocky with his curiosity whereas everyone else was waiting for him to elaborate on what had happened. This type of thing didn't happen every day so they weren't quite sure what to make of it all. Bulkhead brought his hand onto Smokescreens shoulder and gently pulled him back – a silent way of telling him that there were more important things. Stepping forward he spoke the words that were echoed in everyone's processor "what was the message?"_

_They all waited patiently for him to tell them what he had experienced. What he had heard and seen from the great Alpha Trion. Optimus's face never faltered as he stared back at the relic. He was always one to keep his cool and not let his emotions get the better of him. There was a lingering silence for a moment as Optimus himself thought about what had occurred. "It is paramount that we recover the final four Iacon relics...the omega keys" so they had a name._

_The Autobots looked to each other in slight confusion for a quick moment "keys? Arcee listened closely, it was odd that four keys were some kind of relic. They were obviously important but their function was still a mystery. The rest of them were kind of hoping their leader was going to elaborate on the function of these relics that seemed the most important. _

_"To what?" Ratchet questioned _

_They were keys so they had to fit into something; perhaps unlock a door to a weapons vault of some sort "To the regeneration of our home planet" Optimus spoke the words so calmly as if it didn't bother him. _

_They all stood in shock at what they heard. This couldn't be. Was it really possible? Were they really given a second chance to live on their planet? Their home that had been the battle ground for a great war that was still going on. It had been overwhelmed with destruction, up until the day it died and could no longer support life. And now there was this huge information that all that they knew and missed about their once beautiful home could be brought back. _

_Optimus Prime then placed the Star Sabre relic down carefully and didn't waste any precious time in immediately going to the monitor to begin decrypting the remaining four coordinates. Coordinates that led to this coveted keys that they so desperately needed. There was no room for error now – if they let the Decepticons figure out what the keys could do and obtain them then Cybertron was truly lost._

_While Ratchet had gone to working on something practical for Optimus so that he could easily carry the Star Sabre on his person, instead of carrying it in his hand all the time, the others were quick to assemble around each other to properly process the information they were given. They could do nothing more for now until the remaining coordinates had been decrypted so began to remember their home._

_"Pack your gear because we're going back to Cybertron" Bulkhead sounded like he was ready to party for they had truly been rewarded for their efforts during the war. His voice loud and clearly laced with excitement. Bumblebee joined in to voice his thoughts with a bunch of fun energetic whirls and beeps to which Ratchet began laughing with joy. He was working hard but didn't want to miss out on the feeling of there being hope for their beloved planet. All the Autobots carried the hard feelings of the death of their planet but Ratchet was the one out of all of them that made them quite visible. He carried it quite hard in his spark. _

_"Well believe it now bumblebee. Civilisation at last" none of them had ever seen the Autobot medic with such joy. It was as if someone had taken his burdens and casted them away. _

_Smokescreen on the other hand leaned against the catwalk, built for the humans that weren't currently present in the base. He was happy and glad to have the opportunity to get his home back. He would be known as one of the legendary warriors that fought and revived their planet but he couldn't help but dwell on the feelings in his spark that made him a little down. He hadn't discovered all that he wanted on this planet yet. He'd only been on Earth 5 minutes "but I just got here" and he didn't want to leave, not just yet any way. He wanted to see what there was to be seen. He had just got interested in humans and the lives that they led and he wanted to discover so much more. He hadn't even had a chance to get to know the humans that helped the Autobots as much and see them around._

_Thinking of wanting to understand humans more made him think of one in particular. It all reminded him of the red headed human, Isabella, that he had taken notice of. If anything he wanted to get to know her; even if it was through Jack instead of the real him. It was at that moment that he remembered something. The others didn't know about it and there wasn't really a reason for them to know. It wouldn't really help in the battlefield anyway. Arcee's voice reminded him that he wasn't alone. _

_"Remember oil baths?" Arcee began stroking her arms as the memory played over and over in her mind "first thing I'm going to do is soak for an entire solar cycle" she raised her arms as she relaxed at the thought of the therapeutic activity. _

_Bulkhead then began laughing with joy at the news. "I can't wait to tell Miko" and then the atmosphere of the room changed. _

_It was such a joy and then they were sad to think that if Cybertron was brought back then they would be leaving the family that they had made on Earth. "And...Jack" Arcee's optics lowered thinking of her partner. Bee also became saddened as they thought of their human's friends that they had come to love. _

_Of course because of this Smokescreen became uncomfortable at the thought of having to leave family behind especially seeing as he had no human partner like the others did. True he did care for the three teens but not in the way the guardians feel for their charges. The young bot then went over to Optimus not expecting him to turn around and pay attention to him because he was quite busy with his important task. "Er Optimus...keys open doors. Can they really revive an entire planet?" He felt it right to question how these omega keys were going to restore their home planet._

_Optimus did turn around to give the young bot his full attention as he had asked a valid question. "While I am unfamiliar with the law of these omega keys, Alpha Trion knew many secrets and the ancients possessed technology that was long been lost to what we consider modern science" he stopped as he waited for the attention of all of the autobots. "Whatever they're function this much is certain; we cannot restore Cybertron without all four omega keys in our possession" as if everything that had happened during the war already wasn't hard enough. The pressure really was on them now. _

_"Which means we can't afford to lose a single one to Megatron" Arcee thought she like to point that out just to make it known to everyone that they couldn't fail._

_"Four sets of coordinates from Alpha Trion remain encrypted" Optimus turned back to the screen as he spoke ver little of it having been decrypted already "it is logical to conclude that each corresponds to one of the omega keys. I must not waver until I decode them all, the future of our home world depends on it" of course the Autobot leader would take it on himself to make sure that they resurrected Cybertron and not the Decepticons. It wasn't long before Optimus went back to decoding the database and the others huddled by the side talking amongst themselves._

_"I feel funny saying this but I'm not sure I wanna go back" there was so much tying them to Earth now._

_"Who knew we'd ever get used to our knew home" the atmosphere now draped as they thought about the teens Jack, Miko and Raf. Although for Smokescreen he still cared for the children but he didn't have that special bond that Jack spoke of so he didn't quite understand how they were feeling at the moment. Bumblebee buzzed and whirled as he spoke to the others. "Yeah, I don't think I'd ever want to leave Miko"_

_"We've made friends here...family"_

_It was then that Ratchet joined in their conversation from afar "we can always...text them" they weren't quite sure if it was his idea of a joke or not. But he returned to his own work afterwards. The rookie got the feeling that messaging the humans wasn't the same as seeing and being with them which was disappointing to the others. _

_"Besides I've been fighting for so long I don't know if I can do anything else" Bulkhead tried to make his point across that it would be hard to change. But once again Ratchet joined in "you can go back into construction. The power of the ancients may breathe life back into Cybertrons core but our war ravished cities will surely require rebuilding" _

_Even going from fighting and destroying to peace and building would be difficult. _

_"I wouldn't make any travel plans just yet, we still have to locate these omega keys and secure them before the cons do" it made them all homesick to think about Cybertron, and how they might be able to return and revive it but there was no sense on talking about the future if it wasn't secured yet, not while the decepticons posed a threat. "Yeah like that'll be a problem. Optimus has the star sabre now, Megatrons end is in sight" Smokescreen was smug as he spoke. He was sure that the war lord wouldn't dare challenge them now that the autobots possessed a great power. Although he was ignorant to how powerful Optimus Prime was on his own without the iacon relic._

…_End flashback…_

It was still sinking in that they were still able to regenerate their home planet, they would be able live on it again once they had finished with the decepticons.

The sun was setting pretty quickly in Nevada and even though the main source of heat was going the temperature remained hot out. The different climates interested him. He wondered what other places on the planet were like. Smokescreen had noticed that there was very few people out at this time which meant that it was a likely time for decepticons to come out and play. It meant that he had to be alert. Even though it was quiet out he still remembered to follow the traffic laws that they had on this planet. He found it quite peaceful driving around by himself but he still envied having someone around that he could talk to whenever he wanted, someone that he tell anything to and protect like the others but then he saw how stupid he was being.

The opportunity had arisen to go home so it would be silly to make a new friend to only leave them not long after. It would also mean disobeying Optimus by revealing himself to another human without authorisation. Ratchet had also made it very clear back at base that three humans was enough to which everyone was quite surprised at his statement.

_"Where are the people that accused me?_

_The ones who beat me down and bruised me_

_They hide just out of sight_

_Can't face me in the light_

_They'll return but I'll be stronger_

_God, I want to dream again_

_Take me where I've never been_

_I want to go there_

_This time I'm not scared_

_Now I am unbreakable, it's unmistakable_

_No one can touch me_

_Nothing can stop me"_

Smokescreen heard it again. The silence was broken and the beautiful voice filled the air. There was no mistaking it. His audio receptors picked up the pitch and the notes as they were being sang; he had been keeping them alert in case she would sing again. He immediately cut short his thoughts and tried to locate where it was coming from. He could definitely tell it was ahead of him which was coming to the edge of town. There wasn't many houses in this section of Jasper which encouraged him to increase his speed. No one was around, he shouldn't get caught.

He turned a few corners fast tightly as he heard the singing getting louder and louder. The rookie unconsciously growing more excited the closer he got. It wasn't until he located her not far ahead of him that he noticed where he now was. It was a derelict place, an old industrial estate that didn't look used anymore. There was a metal fence that held the border of the rundown buildings and the public footpath and street. It wasn't dirty though. Smokescreen would have expected a rundown place like this to be the 'bad part of town' but it was empty. No graffiti, nor any signs of people around doing things that they shouldn't. It was just quiet. And there sat on a bench, opposite to where the metal fence had fallen into disrepair, sat the source of the singing.

_"Sometimes it's hard to just keep going_

_But faith is moving without knowing_

_Can I trust what I can't see?_

_To reach my destiny_

_I want to take control but I know better_

_God, I want to dream again_

_Take me where I've never been_

_I want to go there_

_This time I'm not scared_

_Now I am unbreakable, it's unmistakable_

_No one can touch me_

_Nothing can stop me"_

He didn't want to disturb her so he made sure to slow down almost to a stop but quietly creep forward. He had to admit he really wasn't thinking properly about this. Isabella believed he was Jacks car and Jack wasn't around. It would be tough to explain if she saw him and started asking questions. As Smokescreen got closer he could make out the outline of her figure curled up on the bench. Her back was to him as she faced the outskirts of Jasper towards the desert where the sun was setting quite quickly. The light had already began to fade and the streetlight turning on one by one all the way down the road and leading back into town.

The rookie stopped when he decided he was close enough and just sat there in his vehicular form. He noticed Isabella's movements as she kept peering up at the sunset and down at what appeared to be a pad in her lap. Jack had mentioned that she was an artist; perhaps she was sketching something while she sang.

It was then that he paid attention to the words that left her mouth. He also recalled the previous song. They seemed like wonderful tunes but couldn't help but notice the negative side to them. It made the rookie wonder if there was a particular reason she had chosen these songs.

_"Forget the fear it's just a crutch_

_That tries to hold you back_

_And turn your dreams to dust_

_All you need to do is just trust_

_God, I want to dream again_

_Take me where I've never been_

_I want to go there_

_This time I'm not scared_

_Now I am unbreakable, it's unmistakable_

_No one can touch me_

_Nothing can stop me_

_God, I want to dream again_

_Take me where I've never been_

_I want to go there_

_This time I'm not scared_

_Now I am unbreakable, it's unmistakable_

_No one can touch me_

_Nothing can stop me"_

To Smokescreens disappointment the song seemed to end and he suddenly felt embarrassed. He really didn't know what to do now. The rookie had wanted to listen to her sing and he had and now he was puzzled with what to do. He figured it was probably a good time to start heading back to base; his patrol was quiet so there was no point in staying out long. Smokescreen hoped he might be able to sneak away just as well as he sneaked toward Isabella.

As Smokescreen shifted into reverse Isabella's head slowly turned to glance over her shoulder at him and his spark pulsated hard. The red head has noticed him and really didn't know what to do. He chose to remain still in the hope that she wouldn't question why he was there. He wondered what to do or if he'll get into trouble for this. Though she was unaware of what he truly was so he guessed there was no reason for him to be in trouble. He waited patiently for something to happen and was surprised by the warm smile that Isabella gave him. He immediately felt warmed by the gesture.

"Jack?"

Smokescreen was really at a loss. He hadn't Jack with him and the only thing he could think of doing was something that he wasn't confident with. He hadn't used his holoform in millennia and believed that the others weren't aware that he possessed one. The technology had been lost in the Great War but he was one of the ones to still have it. He wanted to say something to her but if he did then that would definitely be blowing his cover and going against orders. She quickly turned back to her pad and put it away in her backpack beside her before turning back to Smokescreen "Jack, are you okay?"

Smokescreen figured that he could perhaps leave and tell Jack in the hopes that he can explain it all to Isabella later. Then again he couldn't help but notice that the red head looked lonely; the rookie wondered if she did this often. Smokescreen didn't want to be rude and just race away though but he knew he couldn't go against orders. The rookie's natural charm and instinct couldn't be held back though; instead of just sitting there doing nothing he shifted gears and raced forward. His tyres screeching from the sudden acceleration as moved forward so fast and Isabella followed with her gaze.

The Indy 500 moved a good distance in front of her and then hit on the brakes hard that the race car drifted. It then began doing donuts in the road, creating smoke and tyre marks on the pavement. He really was showing off for her which he knew he could get in trouble for but he didn't care at that moment. He noticed, as he drifted side to side, the large grin on Isabella's face and the loud sound of laughing coming from her mouth. Smokescreen couldn't explain it but he found joy in making Isabella happy. He didn't know how but his cockiness seemed to make her laugh as he was showing off his skills around her.

With a giant smile on her face, Isabella quickly reached her and into her bag and brought out her camera. It was something she always took with her when she brought her sketch pad as well. The rookie wouldn't admit that she really was feeding his ego a lot now. So much so that he really didn't feel in control of his actions now. Isabella seemed to inspect him as she watch him twist and drift on the street and then she brought her camera up and took shot of him, making sure to get a good angle of him. In her head this was one of the best shots. The sun setting in the background and great action shots of the Indy 500 doing donuts. It gave her great inspiration to want to paint at the same time.

It wasn't long though before her smile faded and her camera was brought down into her lap as she saw something in the distance. What looked like a plane was spotted relatively low in the sky behind the race car. The red head had seen it getting closer and closer but that's not what made her smile dissipate. It was the fact that it was like no plane she had seen before; bringing up her camera she zoomed in as much as she could and snapped a picture of a dark purple looking vehicle.

She felt her heart being to beat faster knowing that not even military aerial vehicles were meant to fly that low to the ground and definitely not below buildings. Smokescreen didn't miss how the red head changed from happy to nervous. Stopping himself mid-drift he turned to follow her line of sight. His spark dropping at what he saw. He knew he was in trouble this time.

Isabella felt a shiver run down her spine as she placed her things away in her backpack and sat up straight. Her green eyes didn't move off of the flying vehicle as she moved; there was slight panic building within her that she tried to suppress. Her eyes were able to focus more on the shape of the strange plane and it only made her more nervous especially as she realised that it heading straight for her and didn't seem to be slowing down at all. Her breathing became shuddery just as she willed herself to act and run away but the vehicle pulled up at the last second.

It was after that that Isabella didn't understand what was happening. The Indy 500 had vanished from sight and her ears were filled with mechanical sounds that she couldn't quite describe. The noises weren't violent sounding; it was more harmonising. Her eyes grew bigger and bigger as she watched the source of the noise shift in mid-air. Pieces of metal folding over each other as a form was made. The red head could identify that it had a human shape; two legs and two arms and finally the last thing that formed was the head.

Her mouth hung open at the sight of a giant robot as it descended from the sky and landed on the ground with a loud crash. It didn't seem to faze the robot though – he was big enough that the height didn't bother him so much. Her eyes then began to ache as they couldn't grow any wider than they already had, they were beginning to water from her lack of blinking. Her mind frazzled at the impossibility that stood before her.

…It was a robot. A real life big ass robot. One that appeared to be able to change into a vehicular form. She was absolutely gobsmacked at the sight of a dark purple and black humanoid machine. Its face seemed to be made up of a red arrow shaped visor which now seemed to be focussed on her and as much as she was amazed it didn't seem to have a cheerful look about it. Her heart began to race as it began to intimidatingly step towards her. Her mouth hung open a little as her breathing then began to get a little skittish. She could hear her conscious screaming at her to run, to get away from this thing but her body just wouldn't budge. Her muscles were frozen solid and her mind couldn't think. Her neck craned as the robot stood directly in front of her. His visor concentrated on her small form. It didn't say anything and there was a moment where Isabella considered that perhaps she got it all wrong. Perhaps it was friendly and didn't want to harm her. At that moment the robots arm shifted so it was triangular shaped and it quickly pointed it down to her. The sudden motion made the red head fall backwards onto her the ground as she gasped. There was the whirring sound of something powering up and Isabella's face glowed a bright red as she suddenly realised she was staring down the barrel of a gun. One that was pointed directly at her.

That was motivation enough to move. Her senses for survival kicking in as she grabbed her backpack and ran through the robots legs. A squeal escaped her mouth as she heard a blast come from behind her where she presumed she had just been standing. Her first immediately thought was to scratch her previous one. The robot was definitely not friendly. She went to run across the empty street towards an alley way but stopped dead in her tracks as one of the buildings was shot at and crumbled in front of her. She had and back step to make sure she wouldn't get crushed. Isabella gasped hearing the robots heavy feet on the pavement. She couldn't bring herself to look at it though and kept her back to it in the hope her death would be quick.

Before she could shut her eyes tight the ringing of an engine caught not only her attention but the robots as well. She had to shield her face with her arms as the rubble from the building was smashed into smaller pieces. Dust was kicked into the air but that didn't stop Isabella from seeing the very same Indy 500 speeding towards her. She wanted to scream but her voice had abandoned her at this point and her body locked up again to point that she couldn't move.

Her breathing at this point was now erratic as she watched the race car swiftly transform just like the other robot. This one was a bit different though as it leapt forwards and tackled the hostile robot to the ground. The red head shrieking as she watched it practically fly over her head.

Metal scrapped on metal as the two robots began to fight it out. The hostile one trying to kick the new one away. Isabella really didn't know what was happening only that she was right in the middle of it all "fuck!" the fighting seemed to have gotten closer to her which made her panic. Her legs moved fast than her mind as she went back towards the abandoned industrial estate. She dodged around where one of the robots had shot the pavement and went straight for an opening in the fencing.

Once through she didn't let herself stop. She kept on running towards a small building until she finally turned a corner and leant against the wall. Her heart thumping away threatening to burst out of her rib cage. Isabella felt her body almost collapse against the building as she placed a hand on her chest in the hope of calming it down. Her body slumped down so that she was now sitting on the ground hoping to regain her breath. She could still hear the clattering of the battle that was going on not too far away which still put her in a state of panic. Her mind travelling to her almost death had she not have had the courage or the instinct to move.

Taking in deep breaths from her nose and blowing it out in a calming manner helped her concentrate on her train of thought. Whatever was going on she was sure that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She could have chosen to spend her evening at home or somewhere else but no. She chose to spend it in an area of town that no one went to anymore. Jasper's deserted industrial zone, one that had been campaigned about to get it transformed into something useful for the town. And as for the robots…well. Space was her first thought but even that seemed unreal to her still. She guessed that the robots seemed way out of human reach with their technology but then again everyone had secrets including the government and military.

Before another thought could enter her brain though there was a loud clash that made Isabella jump in fright. She wanted to question what it was and it wasn't long until she got that wish as the roof of the small building she was hiding behind exploded. A scream erupted through her throat as she ducked her head down to avoid getting hurt. It was then that the robots smashed through the building onto the concrete floor but it wasn't just the two like before. There were now three of them. Two of them looked exactly the same though with their dark purple and black form. They appeared to be working together to fight the white one, who is now pinned to the ground.

Isabella moved quickly away from it. The battlefield having now moved closer to her and in to the industrial estate. She was about to try and get back to the street so she could make a run for it to who knew where when she quickly glanced over her shoulder. Her emerald green eyes focussing on the two dark forms beating the white one as much as they could. The other protecting himself and giving everything he had to fight them both off.

Her conscious told her to run. There was no way she could help without being killed herself. This was all bigger than her and not just physically. But her heart made her stay and focus on what she could do. Everything she had done to calm herself was now pointless as she could feel herself winding up again. Her breathing becoming erratic and her whole body shaking.

Making the only choice that she saw fit. Isabella picked up a piece of rubble and threw it as best as she could at one of the robots. A clanging sound of the rock hitting the metal was her evidence that she had hit him but she didn't stop as she found another piece of rubble and threw it at the other robot getting both of their attention. "Hey! Pick on someone your own size!" It was sort of her plan to get them to stop but she hadn't quite figured out the next part yet. Unfortunately, the next part came quickly as the two dark robots looked to one another for a slight moment before one of them began moving towards her. "Shit" she whispered to herself. The ground underneath its footing cracked as it moved towards her with hostile intent. She gasped knowing that she probably just got herself killed.

She didn't have time to think as her legs quickly carried her away. She moved further into the industrial estate to try and hide but all she saw when she looked around were old buildings that would probably end up falling apart on top of her. She couldn't actually believe her legs were carrying her this fast and away from the robot – she refused to stop knowing that if she did then she would just freeze or break down in terror. This wasn't quite what she had mind when she told the two hostile robots to pick on someone their own size. Definitely not her; she was far too puny to them.

Isabella was able to use the layout of the estate to her advantage though. She dodged in and out of around the buildings as she tried her best to keep ahead of the robot. The further sound of fighting in the distance caught her ear which gave her the impression that she had been a distraction long enough to help in some sort of way.

She knew what she had done was stupid but her heart had told her to interfere. It had been an unfair fight which was greatly dishonourable and Isabella couldn't stand it. It lightened her heart that she had been able to even the odds even if she was now being chased down. The red head really didn't know where she was going. With the size of the robot she was finding it hard to out run him; only being able to stay ahead enough to not get squished by its big feet.

At least her size provided some sort of advantage. She was able to dodge long enough to have led the hostile robot in a big loop. Her legs ached and she wanted to stop and rest but she didn't want to give in just yet. If she did then she was a splat mark in the pavement. Her situation became more dangerous now that she was running into the open which made her an easier target. Looking left and right Isabella only found the nearest cover to be a small hangar looking building to the far side of the open pavement. The redhead had noted that the Indy 500 robot had been less hostile to her then the other two had been.

One of which was lying on the ground looking quite lifeless. Well she hoped as she adjusted her path to run straight towards it. Before she reach it however the sound of something charging up caught her ear and something fired at the ground in front of her that made her fall backwards onto the ground. She gasped seeing the rubble fly everywhere and just how close she had been to being blown to pieces herself. She could feel herself panicking, her limbs freezing so she couldn't move them. Hearing the pounding of big footsteps she turned around on the ground to see the robot standing over her. She could feel it staring at her, making her hair stand on its end. That wasn't even the worst part.

The redhead watched as the robot raised his transformed arm and charged his weapon. A red energetic light glowing on her face as she stared right up the barrel of the gun. She felt her heart suddenly stop at the thought that this was it; she was going to perish. She didn't even know by who or why even but it was going to happen none the less.

Taking in a shuddery breath, Isabella tensed. "Back off Decepticon!"

Isabella's eyes widened as she watched the white robot slam into the hostile one knowing him away from her. He then stood in front of her so that she was safely protected behind him. No more words were exchanged as the hostile robot went fire at the friendly one but he was able to quickly evade. Kicking the robot away and then landing a quick punch to the helm.

Catching a powerful kick, he transformed his arm into his own weapon and fired it directly at the hostile. With a couple of perfectly aimed shots the robots visor began to fade from a red to grey. Isabella watched as a couple of sparks flew out of the neck area of the robot and its body went limp as it fell to the ground.

It had all happened so fast that the memory of it all was a bit of a blur to her. Seeing the lifeless robot on the ground in front of her made Isabella's heart jump. Her mind racing with thoughts of her impending death that was only just stopped. If it had been a moment longer then she would have been dead.

It was then that her breathing began to quicken to the point that she couldn't control it. Her chest heaved up and down as her body began to hyperventilate. She eyed the lifeless husk and worried about ending up as just that.

"It's okay" she followed the voice to the white robot that stood over her. His hands were held out as a sign that he meant no harm to her but she couldn't help the overwhelming alarm that pulsed through her. "They're gone and I'm not going to hurt you"

Isabella willed herself to move seeing how close they were to each other. Her legs managed to move a little to push her body away from him but that was it. The tall robot noticed her panic and began to worry about what to do. Tears welled up in her eyes as she watched the robots weapon shift back into his arm. Her skin becoming paler and paler by the second. "Try to calm your breathing down before you hurt yourself…Breathing in slowly and then out"

It seemed silly at first. Isabella could even tell that he felt nervous with no knowing what to do. However, she found his voice soothing and concentrated on that as she followed his lead with the breathing techniques. Within a small moment her heart beat began to lessen to a normal rhythm. Her skin colour then returned to his normal tanned shade.

The mass of breathing had taken its effect. Isabella's body feeling completely shattered and drained not just from the near death experience but the evening's unscheduled exercises as well. It was then that she realised that she no longer had control of herself as her vision slowly blackened. She tried to focus on the only thing that was around and that was the white robot that seemed to be talking to himself. His concentration off of her while she tried to keep hers on him to stay conscious but that failed miserably…


	3. Chapter 3: Getting to know you

**You'll never be alone again**

**Chapter 3: Getting to know you**

**A/N: The song in this chapter is 'My Skin' by Natalie Merchant. **

Cold. Shivers ran up and down her arms and then there was the small tingle of warmth. Isabella groaned as she felt a fresh breeze brush over her body. Her eyes were clamped shut and she didn't want to open them. So instead her mind was racing trying to decipher the last thing that she remembered.

…running…close death experiences and…giant robots!

An instant gasp escaped Bella's lips as her eyes snapped open and she pushed her body to sit up. Quickly she felt aches and pains and the hard tarmac ground beneath her. Glancing all around her she noted the rubble scattered around and not far from where she was sitting was one of them. A robot lying there looking quite lifeless. Memories flooded her with images of it and another trying to kill her. She had somehow survived thanks to the Indy 500 but had suffered a severe panic attack and passed out.

She couldn't see it anywhere. Had the white robot left her all alone? Taking in a deep breath Isabella tried to make sure to stay calm. Anger now filling her as she slowly pushed herself to her feet. Her feet automatically carried her to her backpack where she picked it up and slung it over her shoulder. Her face began to turn red at the knowledge that the so-called good robot had left her alone in the dead of night. She had been vulnerable and weak. Isabella frowned at the thought that she was perhaps wrong. Maybe the Indy 500 hadn't been protecting her.

Tears pricked her eyes at the idea that she had been unconscious and anything could have happened through the night. She shook her head hoping to banish the thoughts as she began to walk back towards town. Bella felt sunken and just wanted to hide away in her house. But there were things that she had planned to do and at that moment it was providing a good distraction.

Looking to the clear sky Bella deduced that it was early morning. Her legs took her into town and it seemed quiet but knew that it would soon busy with people commuting to work for the day. It made her feel lucky that she had found a job, that she enjoyed, which required her to meet deadlines. It was work that she could turn down at any time if she didn't feel up to it.

Her thoughts were cut short as she entered her house; her mood low. As much as she distained what had happened in the past 24 hours it was still an adventure. Something more than waking up every morning and just working. It was the adrenaline rush, the extra ordinary situations she found herself in. Something that didn't happen to anyone else on Earth but her. Isabella sighed before moving off to wash herself.

Meanwhile on the other side of Jasper Nevada Smokescreen had been able to finish his patrol early and the first chance he got he zoomed out of the base. He already knew that if he was needed then the autobots would comm him. Right now however he had other matters to tend to. The rookie hated that he had left the human female alone after what had happened to her; there was also the notion that he had disobeyed protocol. Optimus was not going to be happy when he heard about his actions towards the whole thing. He would be dishonoured in front of everyone.

He considered getting Jacks help with the matter. The woman had associated his vehicle mode with the young teenager and figured that an explanation would be best coming from the human. Then again he'd have to tell him what had happened. If he learned anything at boot camp it was to solve his own mess ups.

The first thing he did was go to where he had last seen her. From what he was told from the raven haired boy, this whole area was an old industrial site that no one used anymore. The rookie made sure to maintain his alternative form in the case that other people were about. He wasn't particularly surprised to find the vehicons gone along with Isabella but the rubble from the fight remained. At least the only evidence from the encounter was the red head that he still needed to find. His processor worked quickly working out that Isabella was probably at her residents, luckily he could access the internet. He searched in her name and description and quickly began ruling out other people that weren't who he was looking for.

It really didn't take long to find a match at a house not far away. If anything she right on the edge of the town where it met the industrial estate. Smokescreen hit the acceleration hard, tyres screeching on the tarmac as he shot forward down the street. He took the corners fast but slowed down once he was sure he had entered resident areas. The last thing he wanted now was to be scolded for not only disobeying protocol but for also disobeying human traffic laws again. He didn't mind the lesson too much that Jack gave him about how to blend in but even he had to admit he could have been doing better things. Since he arrived on Earth there hasn't been much time to impress Optimus; the fact that he had messed up consistently had not helped him one bit.

Last night being one of his biggest mistakes yet. He endangered a human much like he had put Jack in a dangerous situation when they were able to acquire the star sabre. He was making a habit of this but at least this time he was trying to make amends. The fact that he had to try and comfort the red haired female considerably made it worse; Jack had mentioned she had a disorder. Was that it?

He approached what looked like a small cosy house and parked by the side of the road. He wondered if he should make his presence known. She looked afraid of him before and the last thing the rookie wanted was to frighten her again – especially if she was going to hyperventilate and almost pass out on him.

Smokescreen remained vigilant. If the decepticons could find him once while with a human then he didn't doubt that they could find him again. He was in a more populated area now as well which made it all more dangerous. His door mirrors were constantly moving up and down to survey the area while he patiently waited for her to emerge from the building. That was if she was inside. For all he knew she was somewhere else. He hoped she was home, he couldn't sit outside her house all day without one of the autobots noticing that he had been gone.

Waiting for a few minutes an idea did pop into his head; the use of his holoform. He hadn't used it in ages but was sure that it still worked. Another thing that the others didn't know about as well. It wasn't like they asked though. The war for Cybertron was devastating enough, holoforms being one of the pieces of technology that faded and was lost but Smokescreen held onto the holoform programming. Having used it a few times and liked the feeling of being an organic. At least with the holoform he wouldn't scare her as much as he obviously did with his robotic form. Then again it was still morning and he had learned from Ratchet that humans had extensive morning rituals and if anything he wanted Isabella in a good mood.

The rookie was torn out of his processor thoughts at the sound of the front door closing. He managed to look towards the front of the house to see Isabella locking the door behind her. She was wearing something different and looked refreshed. She had her backpack slung over one shoulder and her hair hanging down over her shoulders. As soon as she turned around her eyes focussed on the familiar Indy 500 she tensed. "You have got to be kidding me"

She didn't have anything more to say as she clung to the strap of her bag before moving off down the street. A frown set on her face as she walked down the path towards her destination. She tried to shake off the feeling that she was being followed and only when she peered over her shoulder did she realise why. The sports care was crawling behind her as it followed her to where she was going. Isabella let out a huff in annoyance; she thought she could try and forget about what had happened the previous night but with the car following her it was becoming quite difficult. "Ok stop!" she yelled out before turning around to face the white Indy. The vehicle stopped abruptly "stop following me and leave me alone" she turned back and began walking down the road again with Smokescreen close behind.

"You don't understand, I need to talk to you" Smokescreen spoke out as he continued to follow her.

"No, you don't understand. You don't know what it's like to go from minding your own day to day business and then suddenly you're an inch from death. Then when I'm at my most vulnerable I am left alone!" she didn't stop walking as she shouted her frustrations and couldn't help but notice a couple of people coming out of their homes giving her strange looks. "I'm guessing that I'm not allowed to know about you so how about you leave me alone and I forget I ever saw you"

Smokescreen thought about it but knew if someone found out then he'd be in even bigger trouble. Jack was the one that had connections with the red head so it would eventually be known to him. And then Optimus would know. "I'm afraid it doesn't work like that. I'm a robot in disguise, I have to follow the rules including making sure I blend in"

Isabella sighed seeing no one else around at this moment so she turned her attention to the following vehicle "well you're not doing a great job. Cars don't tend to stalk behind people as they're walking and they certainly don't talk"

Smokescreen remained silent and would have shied away if he was in his robot mode. Instead he watched as Isabella shook her head and turned into what looked like an old abandoned house. It was dark and looked as though the place was almost burned down. He followed her inside the making sure that no one was about. It was clear that he hadn't been doing well with the whole blending in thing and the last thing he wanted to do was blow his cover again.

They had moved into a more populated area and there was no chance of him transforming to help explain things either. There was no other choice at this point so he activated his holoform. The organic form taking a while to materialise after being inactive so long. After a minute or two a young man stood in front of the Indy 500. His eyes were bright energon blue and they immediately focussed on the woman that was staring in shock at him. His light blonde hair with red highlights stuck up into the air a little. It framed around his face nicely and stretched over his ears. He stood a little bit taller than her with a white and blue shirt that matched the colour scheme of the sports car. The shirt was slightly tucked in and slightly hanging out of the deep blue jeans that he was wearing.

"What is that?"

Smokescreen took a while to accommodate himself into the smaller form. He lifted his arms up to take a long look at his hands. Clenching them into a fist and then releasing. It had been a very long time since he last did this and he had to admit that it was a little disorientating. He lifted his eyes to meet Isabella's before he explained himself. "This is a holoform, a piece of technology that allows us work within small parameters" he spoke softly not wanting to anger her any more than she already was with him.

The red head moved slowly to stand in front of him. This robot was now human but somehow was still a robot at the same time. Her eyes scanned over his form, seeing how real he was. She reached her hand forward to touch him but stopped when she realised what she was doing. She was about to move away when she felt something warm touch her arm. She look down to see he hand placed his hand on her.

Isabella frowned as she grasped his hand and stroked her fingers down the back of his limb. She really couldn't believe how real he felt considering that what was in front of her was basically a hologram. "Incredible. You feel so real"

Smokescreen took a small step towards her, he could see that she was purposely not making eye contact with him "In this form I'm just as real as you are. I'm just as human…"

The young woman shook her head as she let go of his hand. Moving away from him she approached the old house and began taking pictures with her camera. "This your way of not trying to scare me?"

The rookie could see that as much as she was amazed by his holoform she was still tense. She was still angry at him "this is my way of trying to maintain my cover. I haven't been here very long; I'm still getting used to how things work on this planet. But what happened last night was my fault – I ignored protocol and put you in danger"

Putting her camera down to her side she considered his words "I almost died yesterday…"

"I'm sorry" his voice was sincere which made her face him.

Her eyes finally meeting his. "No amount of apologies will make up for what I went through last night" there was a small silence where clear guilt was written all over Smokescreens face. He was going to say something else to her but she wasn't finished "Not only did some giant robots want to kill me but I had to endure the worst panic attack I have ever had. I ended up passed out and woke up early this morning all alone" she have him the worst glare that she could muster up before leaving again. She moved swiftly away to the back of the house.

It was only now that Smokescreen noticed what she was doing. Though he didn't understand why she would want to photograph such a wrecked house. The outside looking burned, window smashed and part of the roof missing from where it must have fallen in. "Isabella, please let me explain. I feel terrible for putting you in harm's way and even worse for leaving you in such a vulnerable state; I guess I wasn't really thinking"

The red head took in a deep breath, looping the camera strap around her neck and letting go so that it just hung there. "I don't know you! This apology is meaningless to me. You know my name and I don't know yours. I don't even know what you are. Your only saying sorry to make yourself feel better but I still have to live with this weak feeling inside of me"

Smokescreen had to admit he couldn't argue with her. She hit the nail right on the head and there wasn't anything that his processor could come up with to counter it. Seeing how cut off the back of the house was a small idea popped into his head. "Ok, then" he got Isabella's attention before he deactivated his holoform.

The cybertronians consciousness going back to his true form. Again it was disorientating for him but he knew that the more he did it then he would get used to it. He didn't want to waste time in getting acclimated to where he was again so he tried to push the feeling away and rolled forward in his vehicular form. He made sure to be quiet and discreet as he moved to park in front of Isabella. Once he was sure the no one would spot him he did something he knew was risky. He transformed making sure to be resting in a kneeling position in from of the woman. His audio receptors picked up on a small gasp that came from Isabella. He saw that she tensed even more and her breathing increased feeling frightened slightly "it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you" he reassured.

The voice from the holoform was the exact same which made her relax a little because of how soft it was. "My designation is Smokescreen, I'm an autobot rookie from the planet Cybertron. Our planet died after war broke out and now we seek refuge here on Earth. This planet possesses energon deposits which is the fuel and lifeblood of all cybertronians and the decepticons want to take over the planet and its people. But we autobots vow to protect Earth and humans from them"

Isabella couldn't actually believe what she was hearing. He was telling her that he was an alien and that the war that destroyed his home was now here to destroy hers. She had so many questions but really didn't know where to start "those guys last night that attacked us"

"Decepticons. They were after me but I'm guessing they associated you with being my human friend"

"And why would they think that? I thought you were just an ordinary car last night" she tried to remain calm.

"Well a couple of the autobots have human friends that have been helping us"

The red head had to process it all for a moment. So people were already aware of the autobots; the government must have been keeping it hidden from the public. "Wait…Jack was with you when…"

"Jack is Arcee's partner. You'll get a chance to meet everyone when we get to the base"

At that moment Isabella began to panic a little "you want to take me to the others?"

Her skin began to shiver which didn't go unnoticed "It's okay. The others are like me but I can promise that they won't be pleased about how you became involved. That's all my fault and I take responsibility for my actions"

She understood what he was saying and knew that now she had met Smokescreen properly she would have to meet the other autobots but this was already too much in one day. "I can't meet them, Smokescreen" she showed just how nervous she was in those few words.

"I ignored protocol once, Isabella. I can't do it again"

"I might know who you are but you don't know me"

She was going to walk away from his 25ft form but he spoke up too quickly for her to ignore "I want to know you, Isabella"

She didn't know what to say to that. For once someone wanted to be in her life but she wasn't sure if he meant it just yet. She was sure that the people that were meant to care for her were supposed to be in her life but as it seemed none really were. But this alien just verbally addressed that he wanted to be in her life. Get to know her. "Why? Why were you even there yesterday?"

Immediately Smokescreen began rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment and he couldn't help but look away from Isabella. "I was out on patrol when I just happened to come across you"

The red head could read him easily. His body language was shouting at her; she raised an eye before speaking back to him "really, you patrol areas where no one goes often. And the whole drifting thing was just you entertaining yourself, right?" Smokescreen couldn't even reply to that out of embarrassment "you only started showing off after I finished singing which means you were eavesdropping"

It seemed as though he had been caught red handed; his voice was laced with a slight chuckle as he spoke out truthfully "I might have heard you singing and diverted from my patrol to listen to you"

Isabella silently chuckled to herself seeing how embarrassed he was from his actions, only then did she realise the comfortable feeling that engrossed her around him. Her anger slowly fading away "_Take a look at my body_

_Look at my hands_

_There's so much here_

_That I don't understand_

_Your face saving promises_

_Whispered like prayers_

_I don't need them_

_I've been treated so wrong_

_I've been treated so long_

_As if I'm becoming untouchable"_

She knew the song well but couldn't help but notice that the words just automatically came to her. She didn't have to think of them before they left her mouth. The main reason she liked to sing to herself was to express her feelings.

"_Contempt loves the silence_

_It thrives in the dark_

_With fine winding tendrils_

_That strangle the heart_

_They say that promises_

_Sweeten the blow_

_But I don't need them_

_No, I don't need them_

_I've been treated so wrong_

_I've been treated so long_

_As if I'm becoming untouchable_

_I'm a slow dying flower_

_Frost killing hour_

_The sweet turning sour_

_And untouchable_

_Oh, I need_

_The darkness_

_The sweetness_

_The sadness_

_The weakness_

_Oh, I need this_

_I need_

_A lullaby_

_A kiss goodnight_

_Angel sweet_

_Love of my life_

_Oh, I need this_

_I'm a slow dying flower_

_Frost killing hour_

_The sweet turning sour_

_And untouchable"_

The sound of Isabella's voice in his audio receptor made Smokescreen relax so much to the point that he almost forgot he was fighting in a war. She could have lulled him into recharge right then and there. The melody was soft and practically hypnotised him to the point that he couldn't think of anything else but to sit there and listen.

"_Do you remember the way_

_That you touched me before_

_All the trembling sweetness_

_I loved and adored?_

_Your face saving promises_

_Whispered like prayers_

_I don't need them_

_No, I don't need them_

_I need_

_The darkness_

_The sweetness_

_The sadness_

_The weakness_

_I need this_

_I need_

_A lullaby_

_A kiss goodnight_

_The angel sweet_

_Love of my life_

_Oh, I need this_

_Well, is it dark enough?_

_Can you see me?_

_Do you want me?_

_Can you reach me?_

_Or I'm leaving_

_You better shut your mouth_

_Hold your breath_

_Kiss me now you'll catch your death_

_Oh, I mean it_

_Oh, I need this"_

Her voice faded as the song ended. She didn't quite know what to say to Smokescreen or even if she wanted to let him get close to her. As of that moment though she did owe him a valid explanation. She made sure that her back was facing him "I have a severe panic attack disorder" she could see from the corner of her eye that the rookie was listening intently to her "My whole life is one big scare and nothing can change it. I have to carry around medication and take it daily to decrease my symptoms otherwise I'm likely to have a panic attack every day." She felt something warm on her back which made her slightly turn to see that Smokescreen had placed a gentle digit on her back for comfort. He wanted to remind her that she wasn't alone. "People think it's funny while other people decide they want to support me but end up leaving"

"I won't leave you, Isabella. As an autobot it's my job and privilege to protect you"

She gave him a small smile hearing the gentleness in his voice "my friends call me Bella"

Smokescreen returned the facial expression seeing her begin to open up to him "we should get going"

Immediately Bella could feel her heart rate increase as panic began to consume her. Memories of the previous night was all she could think about "do you think you could hold of taking me to see the others. I don't think I could take it just yet"

The rookie processed what she was asking and knew that he couldn't possibly take her to the base. Not only because she hadn't consented and bringing her forcibly was wrong but because it could have a devastating effect on her health to be put through another severe panic attack like the last one she had. But then there was her safety to consider; the decepticons knew about her involvement with the autobots now. He recalled being told that when the teenagers became involved Optimus appointed them guardians to protect them which meant he would have to take up that role until he could bring her to his leader. He nodded to her in understanding and said "that's fine but I will have to take you soon. The longer I leave it the more I get into trouble"

"What are you the child of the group?" she laughed speaking to him in a joking fashion.

Smokescreen shrugged his shoulders to this "Pretty much" a confused look from Bella was his reply "well Optimus Prime is the leader, Ratchet is the medic, Bulkhead and Arcee are the warriors and Bumblebee is the scout. Me, I'm just the rookie - the youngest of them all"

The red head easily read his facial expressions as he spoke to her and could hear slight resentment in his voice "what do you dislike about being a rookie?"

"It's not that I dislike it, it's just that my dream is to reach warrior class and no one seems to have faith in me to get there. I feel more…"

Isabella quickly found the word he was looking for and finished his sentence for him "underrated" the rookie was surprised that she knew exactly what he meant but nodded. "You and me both" she saw quickly that she would have to elaborate for him. "Perhaps we could go for a drive and continue talking after I've gotten a few pictures from inside?"

Excitement spread through his whole body knowing that he continue to get to know her. With great anticipation Smokescreen transformed back into his vehicular form and flashed his headlights. He heard a giggle come from Bella as she climbed in to the old house through a broken window. She was careful of any shards of glass that was about. The floorboards beneath her was very creaky and felt a little unstable. All warning signs in her head were sounding – she knew better than to step into an unstable building but she wasn't going to hang around too long. Bringing the camera hanging around her neck up in front of her face, she concentrated on the screen and pushed the capture button to finally take the pictures she desired. She made sure to capture the detail of the burnt surroundings and abandonment before she decided she enough content.

She climbed back out through the same window, knowing the door was locked for safety reasons, and swiftly moved over to Smokescreen waiting form. His passenger side door opened as soon as she was close and his engine turned over ready to go. Her small form slipped inside and nestled into the soft the seat as the Indy 500 began to roll back to the road and then down the street with no clear destination. Silence lingered between them for a minute before Smokescreen finally spoke "do you want to talk about it?"

Isabella already knew that he was talking about the reason why she felt underrated "there's a reason I'm alone, Smokescreen" she started but didn't know if she should continue. He had already accepted that she had a panic attack disorder which made her think that he might be different. She never told anything like this to Jack or June. Maybe she could tell Smokescreen. "I've had this disorder from a young age and for as long as I can remember I have always been a burden to people. The first chance my parents got to throw me out the house they took. Now I'm lucky enough to get a one or two visits from my mother plus a phone call a month" she stopped a moment to take in a deep breath so that she could continue "I guess I'm not what they wanted me to be. The only reason I still have contact with my parents is because I occasionally go into a phase where I won't take my medication. The doctors insisted that I live with them but they said they didn't want to ruin my independence and promised to check in with me often…liars. I don't even look forward to seeing them because the look on their faces just makes me feel like I'm this broken thing. This…disease"

Bella hadn't noticed the small tears running down her cheeks until she was met with the warmth of a hand wiping the tears away. Looking to the side she saw Smokescreens holoform sat in the driver's seat reaching over to comfort her. She couldn't explain the warm feeling that rose up from within her at this. "Listen to me, Bella. And listen hard. You're not broken and you're not a disease. You are far from it. I don't need to know you well to know that your creators are the problem and not you"

"Creators? Is that parents?"

"Cybertronian equivalent. We call our children sparklings. When was the last time you spoke to your parents?"

"A few days ago, they kept pestering me to get a boyfriend. Probably so they wouldn't have to bother with me anymore" at that moment she felt the seat belt around her tighten so that it felt like a small hug. The holoform quickly disabled as Smokescreen continued to drive. Isabella could feel the sinking feeling within her fading from the comfort she was receiving. Comfort was something that she didn't have an abundance of before. Hearing of his customs interested her as well, to the point that she was beginning to forget her problems. "What's your planet like, Smokescreen?"

Then there was a moment when the memories of his home planet that came rushing back to him. As well as the memories of what had happened to it from years of ravaging war "Cybertron was beautiful. If you went out early enough you could watch the sunrise and reflect off the cities. Strong metal buildings standing tall and at night the whole planet lit up like a beacon and its two moons would reflect more light so that it never felt dark" the rookie then let out a sigh "all of that is gone now. War destroyed it all, the planet was poisoned and finally went dark. Buildings destroyed and left in ruins – the planet no longer able to support life"

"I'm sorry. Sounds like it was a wonderful place. You must miss it"

Smokescreen did miss Cyberton but not as much as he thought he would "I do but this planet has its beauties. I'm learning to like it here" his thoughts then went to the recent discovered Omega keys. Something that may give them their planet back. To have the opportunity to revive the planet was a huge honour but at the same time didn't seem possible. That fact that they had been granted a second chance meant the world to them all but they were still at war. To restore Cybertron would be to fight over it and potentially kill it all over again.

Smokescreen had been so distracted by his thoughts that he didn't even notice that he stopped outside Isabella's house. The red head quickly unbuckled and slipped out of the sports car "do you want to come inside?" she obviously meant his holoform. There was no way that his natural form would be able to fit into her house even if he did enter through her garage door. Her voice made him withdraw from his inner thoughts and before Isabella knew it the young man form of Smokescreen fizzled into life in front of the bonnet of the car. "We're going to have to work on your blending in a bit more I think" she laughed.

Smokescreen only then realised that he had used the holoform out in the open for anyone to see. He hated knowing that he kept messing up but the soft giggle from Bella made him forget it. His worries and stresses fading away. "Still getting used to the whole robots in disguise thing" he rubbed the back of his head.

She waved him over where she began to unlock the door. She opened it timidly knowing how much of a mess her house was but there was a good reason for it all.

Smokescreen began surveying every inch as soon as he stepped inside. Everywhere he looked was either sketch book full of drawings or a canvas. Most of the canvases he spotted where already painted on but there was the odd one he spotted that was still blank; awaiting some colour. The walls behind all of Isabella's creations where a cool cream colour which only brought out the colours in the canvases even more.

Bella placed her back pack down by the door as she watched Smokescreens reaction to her home. "Sorry about the mess. I always tell myself I should go through them all and decided what to do with them but when I get to doing it I just don't have the heart to throw them away" there was one painting in particular in her mind that she had the urge to show him. Leading him into her living room she quickly cleared her sofa and invited him to sit down while she went to find it. There was some order to where she put them. The pieces in the living room where ones that had people in the landscape. The ones in her hallway were of just landscapes and the ones in her kitchen were cityscapes. Bella rummaged around in her hallway trying to find it. A few old ones falling but she didn't mind too much. As soon as she found it she left the mess she had just created and returned to Smokescreen with the canvas hiding behind her back. "Now I didn't think this one was any good but I think you should see it. It seems to make a little more sense now after you told me about your home" with that she brought the canvas in front of her.

The rookie didn't understand what she was talking about until he finally laid his eyes on it. Her brush strokes had clearly defined tall metal structures in the background that reflected the strength of sun's rays. And in the foreground was the smooth surface of a body of water. He couldn't believe what he was seeing; it felt like he was really there – back on Cybertron. "The great lake of Iacon"

"The what?" Bella frowned "It's just something I painted a few months back. It took me ages to get the water right and even after that I wasn't sure the buildings in the background worked or not"

Smokescreen heard her but was still processing that what he was looking at was something he never thought he'd lay his optics on again. It was a sight that he had admired in the past and had probably taken for granted considering that it no longer looked like that. "It's the great lake of Iacon. Once one of the most beautiful places on Cybertron. I'd take a break from my patrol and sit by the lake at night and you almost got blinded by the reflection of the moons in the water…How could you have known about it?"

Bella shrugged "it just sort of came to me. I woke up one day and pondered over buildings made of metal. As soon as you described your home to me this painted came to mind immediately" Smokescreen understood that "does it really look exactly like the lake?"

"Precisely"

The red head had to wonder how it could be. She had only just met Smokescreen and had never seen Cybertron. Isabella could see the yearning in Smokescreens eyes as he studied the painting "you can have it, if you want it"

His gaze turned from the painting to her eyes "I couldn't. It's your artwork"

"As you can see I am surrounded by my work and I make new ones quite regularly" she gestures to the room full of painted canvases around them.

Smokescreen couldn't help but chuckle at her before he takes the Iacon canvas and places it up where the both of them can see it clearly "you should take more pride in your work. All of it is brilliant, I don't think I could find a piece that I wouldn't like in this forest of art"

Isabella's cheeks instantly flushed red from the compliment. No one had ever told her that her work was good before "most pieces are places that I want to see. Some are places plucked from my imagination that I hope is real – like your Iacon"

"I wish you couldn't have seen it" there was clear sadness in his voice and she couldn't blame him.

There was one thing that stood out to her though and that was his holoforms features; she'd never met a person that made her feel so inspired before that all she wanted to do was create. "Smokescreen, do you might if I paint you?" he gave her a questioning look that made him look funny in Bella's eyes. "I've never felt the need to paint someone before but you have remarkable facial features" she lifted her hand and gently placed it on his cheek "I don't know what it is but…" she felt his warm skin beneath her hand and still couldn't believe how real his human form felt even though it wasn't real. His true form actually sitting outside the house.

After a moment she realised that they had fallen silent while staring into each other's eyes and her hand caressing his cheek. She retracted and gave him a soft smile as she cleared her throat hoping to put that moment behind them. She quickly grabbed her sketching pencils and a fresh canvas she spotted lying around. The first thing on her mind before she even began was to capture an image of him for her the colour textures. She rummaged in her bag for the device and brought it out, pointing it at him "ok, give me a smirk" he did as she asked and she quickly took the photo "that was good but it looks like you've just got revenge on someone so how about a determined look" again Smokescreen changed his facial express as he look towards the camera. The thoughts of wanting to impress Optimus and prove himself to the team flashed through him to help capture the mood. "I still don't think it's the right look" she spoke.

Only then did Smokescreen take his concentration away from the camera and onto her. He studied her facial features instead and couldn't help the small twitch from the corners of his mouth. Bella was thinking at this time but when she turned back to the rookie and saw his facial expression, she felt her heart leap. "That's it. Hold that look"

She took as many photos as she could from different angles. Excitement growing inside her that made her giddy. "Perfect" Smokescreen saw the clear happiness on her face as he continued to think about her so that she got was she was after. He watched as she sat and began to sketch him out carefully on the canvas. He couldn't see what she was doing but from what he could see; her movements were delicate and each line that she drew had meaning behind it.

"So you think if the whole autobots thing doesn't work out for me that I should try for a model" he teased her and couldn't help the laugh that came with it.

Playfully Bella gave him a small whack on his arm before returning to her work "try not to let this affect your ego too much, hot shot. Now, keep looking at me. If even one line is off it can ruin the whole piece and since I've never done a proper portrait before I'd rather not mess this one up"

Her face remained focussed as her eyes constantly switched between looking her the canvas and staring at him. He watched carefully as she occasionally had to push her fringe hair that fellow over her eyes behind her ear. The rookie had to keep a straight face as time got on and he noticed that when Bella was deep in concentration she began to nibble on her bottom lip. Her head constantly tilted left and right making sure that she got her pencil lines right. His cheeks warmed the more he watched her to the point that he felt like he was going to catch on fire. He noticed her emerald eyes light up so much in the natural light that shone through her windows. He couldn't believe the amount of joy that she fiery haired woman was feeling from just drawing him. The amount of canvases in her house were proof enough that it was something she was passionate about. "Why do you paint so much, Bella?"

He wasn't kidding when he said he wanted to get to know her. "I learned from a young age to get my emotions out through creation, particularly when my parents didn't want anything to do with me. Then I found that drawing, painting and photographing was distracting me from my problems and it allowed me to escape into the world of my creations. I could imagine myself walking through these beautiful places, breathing in the fresh air away from the polluted towns and cities. I wanted to travel as soon as I left my parents but because I have episodes of depression where I come off my medication which is pretty dangerous for me. That's why my mother visits once or twice every other month. So I guess painting is my way for making up for the fact that I can never go anywhere by myself. I paint the landscapes I dream to truly see"

The passion in her voice was unmistakeable. He only asked a small question and didn't expect to get such a heavy reply. Bella had such a craving to leave and see all the natural wonders of her world but her body didn't allow that. At this point she had stopped drawing Smokescreen. His facial expression had changed to that of compassion from her small story. "Your love for the environment is outstanding, Bella" the young autobot placed his hand on top of hers as he spoke "I don't think you should let your creators hold you back, not even your disorder. There is great potential inside of you and I think you just need to find yourself in order to get what you desire" Bella gave him a warming smile at the encouraging words. "And your creators are not good people. They are pretending to be ignorant of you even though they know they can't cut you out of their lives. If something were to happen to you they know that they would be held accountable…" Smokescreen wanted to go on and rant about everything she had told him but he was interrupted by a small beeping sound.

He looked around wondering where it was coming from until he saw Bella bring out her phone from her pocket. She pushed a button and the beeping stopped. Carefully she placed her creative tools down and moved towards the kitchen where she got herself and glass of water and drew a box out of the cupboard. She re-joined Smokescreen on her living room sofa. "What was with the beeping?"

Bella popped two pills out from the packaging into her hand and held them out for Smokescreen to see "a reminder to take my daily mediation. It's better to take it at the same time every day for consistency" as soon as she had finished her sentence she practically threw the pills into her mouth and then took a few sips of the water to help swallow them. Once she was done she picked up her pencils and canvas again and motioned for Smokescreen to model for her again so she could continue. The rookie did so without protest. "So you know my problems; what about yours?" her gaze went back to switching between him and the canvas. It got easier for Smokescreen to make the facial expression she desired. He couldn't believe how caring Bella was turning out to be.


	4. Chapter 4: A dangerous place

**You'll never be alone again!**

**Chapter 4: A dangerous place**

Smokescreen had never felt better than when he returned to base that evening having vented out to Isabella. He helped him to relax and focus a lot more. However, when he did return to the others, having modelled for Bella for a while, it didn't take long for the strain of war to be put back on to his shoulders. He had been so adamant on impressing Optimus and the others that he was all for going on a mission straight away. It wasn't long before he got his chance to go after an Omega key with Bulkhead. Fresh thoughts of Isabella was on his mind which made the rookie perky. He knew he would have to bring her to the base later on but for now he liked having someone outside of the autobots that he could talk to. He had never completely understood the relationship between his comrades and their human friends but now he had a decent understanding.

In the small amount of time he'd known her Smokescreen had grown fond of Bella. He wanted to protect her and be there for her when she needed him. He wanted to be the person she would run in when she was scared or hurt. He also wanted to be the one that made her smile and laugh.

"Smokescreen wake up!" Bulkhead's voice rang in his audio receptors. His processor being ripped away from the fiery haired woman to the situation at hand. He had to remember what was going on. What he was doing before he blacked out.

Last he had saw of Bulkhead he was facing Dreadwing and had told him to go for the Omega Key. He remembered having it within his grasp and then nothing. He must have been hit from behind and now that he had awoken the relic was gone. He looked up to see Bulkhead above him with a confused look on his face. The green autobot helped him up onto his feet "W…What happened?"

Bulkhead sighed a few scratches and dents on his armour from his run in with the decepticon "That's what I wanna know"

Smokescreen looked to his servos "The Omega key; I had it until something hit me from behind" Smokescreen rubbed his helm from where he was hit a slight ache from where he was knocked unconscious.

"Dreadwing must have had backup, that relic's long gone" the ex-wreckers put his servo to his helm to comm the base "Ratchet we need a bridge" having just lost one of the relics that might restore their planet Bulkhead seemed quite calm about the ordeal. It was something that made Smokescreen a little grateful.

Frustrated Smokescreen sighed. He was becoming desperate "I told Optimus I would return with that key" this would just be another thing to add to his list of mess ups. Another defeat on his part one that he hoped he could vent out to Isabella again. She seemed to be the only that cared for such things and actually listened to him. It seemed quite obvious to him that he wasn't the warrior he wanted to be and still had a lot to learn. He did consider the possibility that he would never be good enough. It wasn't too important just yet but there was one thing he was certain of and that was he was probably going to hear it when he got back to the base.

It wasn't long before the green swirls of the autobot ground bridge appeared in front of them. Bulkhead helped lead Smokescreen into the ground bridge "Listen kid, Alpha Trion said we need all four keys to restore Cybertron remember. We just need to hang on to the one we have and find a way to get the others back from Megatron" with that they both walked through and saw the serious optics of the others on whether they had a successful mission or not. Arcee's was particularly hardened as the rookie had been treating the whole thing as some sort of game.

I did make the rookie wonder a lot more. If he ever wanted to be a great warrior like Optimus Prime how was he ever going to do it? Perhaps there was something wrong with his fighting style, did he need to ask Optimus or one of the others to train him better? Was there an issue with his processor that made him make bad decisions? In which case he'd have to ask Ratchet to run tests on him. So many thoughts plagued him that he didn't even hear Bulkhead explain the ambush from Dreadwing. Smokescreen didn't even want to hear it. He was there; hearing repeats of his failures just put him down even further than he already was. "Smokescreen was sucker punched, could have happened to any of us" Bulkhead put a reassuring hand on his shoulder to which he could only thank for the support.

Smokescreen noticed Optimus back at the monitor trying to decode the next set of coordinates as quickly as he could while they were still in a heated discussion "But it didn't because I was the one that dropped his guard, I was the one that blew it" again the young autobot sighed "some great warrior I'm turning out to be" Smokescreen spoke aloud without realising at and when he did he prepared himself for the worst.

"You still don't get it do you?" Smokescreen diverted his optics to the floor as Arcee began her rant "A couple of victories aren't going to make you a legend and not every mission results in success, not for me, not for Bee and not even for Optimus" only now when his hero's designation was mentioned did Smokescreen meet Arcee's annoyed gaze. "We've gained relics and lost some. We've also lost friends" Cliffjumper was clearly in the forefront of her mind as she placed her servo over her spark chamber. The rookie remembered hearing about the deceased autobot. "We've even lost a world. But this is the one time we get a do over, we have a chance to bring back Cybertron and everyone in this room needs to be in sync. This isn't about you or your destiny" he words were spoken with small pieces of venom in them that began to seep towards Smokescreens spark.

"Arcee, you have made your point" the Primes loud voice spoke with clear authority but that didn't seem to stop the femme. Optimus had heard everything and moved away from his work decoding the Iacon database to step in to the conversation knowing that conflict within the team was rising.

Arcee wasn't going to take her leaders orders though "Optimus, he needs to hear this. You might actually become a great warrior one day and I sincerely hope that you do but greatness begins and ends with putting the team first. Not your personal score card" if looks could kill it would have been Arcee's. Smokescreen had never been on the receiving end of such criticising words.

"There's nothing I wouldn't do for guys" and that was the truth. There wasn't a bad piece of coding in his frame. The thought of going against Optimus Prime hurt him enough.

Arcee's optics narrowed at the rookie not believing him "then stop trying to be a hero and start being an autobot." He could have taken her previous comments in bulk but that was it. That sentence stung him more than any other. There was the lingering silence as the rookies face went from sadness and turned hard.

"You know what maybe I'm not good enough" he didn't want to take any more of what Arcee had to say so he immediately transformed into his vehicle mode and sped out of the base before anyone had the chance to stop him. Smoke from the sudden friction of his tyres on the ground kicked up as he left.

Smokescreen didn't exactly know where he was going only that it was far away from the base. Once out into the open world he shut of his communication link; not wanting to talk to any of team Prime any time soon. It was only then when he had completely ignored the traffic laws he was taught and was far enough away that he knew where he was going. Isabella was the only one that he wanted to see. He craved her attention – to see her smile and hear her voice.

It was the only thing he wanted to help clear his mind. He had vowed to bring the red head to the team as per protocol but on this occasion he would choose to skip it. It would only stir up more arguments.

His body seemed to be acting faster than his mind as he soon found himself speeding through the streets of Jasper Nevada. He made himself slow down knowing he'd only get another scolding for his recklessness in his frustration, luckily for him Jasper wasn't really all that big and it wasn't long before he was outside of Bella's house. He did consider the importance of collecting the last relic but knew that it took Optimus a while to decode the database entries. He would turn his comm link on later when he was sure that he would probably receive some sort of communication for assistance.

He made sure to be quiet in Bella's small neighbourhood so that he wouldn't attract any attention. Rolling onto her driveway he came to a stop. The sun was already setting which made him wonder if he would be intruding on her day to day activities but he figured he wasn't going to find anything out just sitting there on the tarmac. He swiftly activated his holoform inside his vehicular form just in case someone was watching.

It felt weird for the rookie to shift from one form to another again but he knew he would get used to it eventually. It being well worth it considering the things he could experience in this new form. He quickly exited his alternate form and moved to her front door. His hand went to the door handle but stopped when he realised that this was her private establishment and it would have been rude to enter without permission. So instead he knocked gently on the door wondering if she would answer now that it was getting dark.

The sound of footsteps approaching his position was his answer, his spark thrumming hard at the excitement as the door blocking his path opened to reveal the red headed woman he had craved to see. "Smokescreen! I wondered when I was to see you again" her smile at his presence almost made him weak at the knees but he reframed from showing it. Bella moved aside letting Smokescreen step into her residence.

"It's been one of those days" he sighed as he eyed that the hallway had got a little busier. A few more canvases having been added to her collection.

The young woman could tell just by the look on his face that something was wrong but she had the perfect thing to get his mind off of whatever it was. Without any explanation she took his hand, much to his surprise and led him into her living room. There his optics set on the rearranged canvasses that were spread to create more room in the middle. Sheets with little spots of paint on them covered some of the furniture, carpet and a few of Bella's finished pieces. While sat on top of them was a well-used easel, stool and a table filled with paints and brushes. "Why don't you have a look" she gestured to the canvas that was sat on the easel. The back was facing them so neither of them could see but Bella had spent the whole day working on it so she already knew what it currently looked like.

The rookie took a few careful steps around it allowing his blue optics scan over the series of colours that decorated the background. A small inaudible gasp left him; although it was far from complete he was still amazed of its current beauty. She had painted a sky filled with the colours of a setting sun and there glowing at the top was a very much alive Cybertron. The planet cast light onto a grassy area that had a river split it in two. It still needed some work but Smokescreen could have almost sworn that the river was actually flowing. Casting his gaze to the small form of Bella he noticed the smirk on her face. "So are you a bit overwhelmed with the background that you haven't even noticed the foreground?" she pointed right to the unpainted form of an Indy 500 and what looked like his holoform sat on the hood.

"I must have been a good model to have my alternate form and holoform make it in to one of your art pieces"

Bella chuckled as she brought out her sketch book allowing him to see her finished drawing of his form that he had modelled for her not long ago. "Let's just say you have excellent features" she could see that this was proving to be a good distraction for him but knew that to truly put his feelings behind him he'd have to let them out. "Why don't we go for a drive" she suggested.

The rookie saw the soft look on her face and couldn't take his eyes off of her "I'm all for it" immediately before she could say anything back to him Smokescreen's holoform dissolved into thin air. But she didn't waste time in grabbing her jacket and keys before leaving her home, making sure to lock it behind her. The race car was already fired up and waiting so she swiftly sat herself into his passenger seat before he backed out of her driveway and onto the street.

They both remained silent for a while to which neither of them minded. Only when she noticed that they had travel outside of the town did Bella decided to speak up "so what got to you today? Must have been a reason that it was a bad day"

It all came back to the rookie then. The distraction of being with Bella no longer in play as he remembered Arcee's scolding. "My planet was destroyed by the war, its ability to support and create life now gone. But recently we've been decoding an old database that contained coordinates to the locations of relics that were hidden on this planet and the last few have been Omega Keys. Optimus told us all that they could restore Cybertron so long as we have all four of them but…I lost one today"

The red head took everything that he was saying in and felt down hearted at the thought of what he lost. Not just the Omega key but also the loss of his home. "It's not your fault, Smokescreen"

"But it is. I had it and then I got attack from behind. When I returned to base Arcee really had it in for me, told me that I'm not what an autobot should be or a war hero" It was very clear just how much the whole ordeal got to the young autobot.

Bella shook her head "How would Arcee know any of this?" The question baffled Smokescreen. True Bella didn't know Arcee or how good the femme was in battle but she was still questioning the logic of the femme. "The war's not technically over but you could still be a war hero, I know you're mine" had Smokescreen been in any other form he would have blushed at the compliment "You're not Arcee and Arcee isn't you. Each of you will have a different way of going about things but that's what makes you unique so there can never be a true way to be an autobot. You fight to protect your team but also other life, like humans, surely that makes you an autobot"

The rookie couldn't believe how much sense she was making. Bella hadn't known him that long and yet she already knew what made an autobot more than he did. "I guess I never thought of it like that"

"Maybe the real problem is that the others don't know how to work with you and you them. Just because they may be more experienced than you doesn't mean that they're the best. You just need to learn the perfect way to work together" such words inspired Smokescreen that perhaps it he was looking at it all wrong.

"You are a very wise human"

Bella laughed "Perhaps I'm not wise. Perhaps all you needed was someone to tell you what was really going on from an outside perspective" she cast her eyes to the outside world, hoping that she had been able to help Smokescreen. "Where are we even going?"

The rookie laughed not knowing completely himself "wherever my wheels take us" he'd lost track of where he was going as soon as he started driving with Isabella. She had proved to be a great distraction and even better at helping him understand what the bigger problem was. So long as they found a way to complete their objective and protect innocent life. He felt Bella snuggle into his interior as she stared at the world passing by; warm air blew through seeing just how comfortable she was.

They lingered in silence enjoying the presence of each other until Smokescreen couldn't help but ask questions. He was keeping his word in wanting to get to know her and in return Bella did the same. She wanted to know him now that she had the chance. It wasn't every day that you came across an alien; Bella just happened to come across many. A couple wanting to kill her at the time.

It wasn't long before the two of them were exchanging stories. Smokescreen about his time in the Elite Guard and guarding Alpha Trion and Bella about working for a range of different companies. They shared some of their best moments and some of the worst. "The best place you've ever been to?" it was Bella's turn to ask – she wanted to know if he had visited other planets or if there was a special place on Cybertron that he remembered.

Smokescreen took a moment to think it over. He hadn't been to many places. Earth being the only other planet he'd set foot on. There used to be some great places on Cybertron but even now something stuck out in his mind more than them "Earth is a really great place. It's were I met you"

Bella really hadn't expected that answer "Earth isn't as great as you think. It's overpopulated and we're slowly destroying it"

"Cybertron really wasn't that different, Bella. The main difference is that the war actually did destroy it" the mood shifted and the red head immediately felt bad for mentioning it. She guessed Earth wasn't as bad as she previously thought but there were still some major issues.

In the interest to cheering the mood back up Bella thought of an interesting next question "most embarrassing moment of your life?" a playful smirk worked its way on to her lips as she heard Smokescreen chuckle. The seat beneath her vibrating just a little.

"I was put on cleaning duty for 10 solar cycles for tackling my commanding officer to the ground during my Elite Guard training" he listened to the growing giggles coming from his passenger seat. "It was very hard to explain that I mistook my chief for one of my fellow trainees". The fact that Bella was finding it hard to breathe because of how much she was laughing just proved how funny it was and to this day Smokescreen still felt really embarrassed about the whole situation. Her face turned just as red as her hair. "It's not funny" the more he thought about it though the more he began to find it hilarious "okay, it's funny"

"I reckon if you tackled Arcee she would have tackled you right back and if he had been Optimus…" the thought was too much for Bella to handle as she tried to stop her laughter.

The rookie was very glad that it hadn't been Optimus Prime; not that even thought he could tackle his leader, the mech would have been very noticeable. "That would have been the worst. Besides at that time Optimus wasn't even a Prime. So what's yours?" he figured it was only fair to know hers in return.

The expression her face already meant that she had it in the forefront of her mind "So this supermarket was rebranding and wanted a new logo design, they hired me and asked to see my ideas. I keep my work related pieces in clean folders to make seem a bit more professional and when I sat down at a meeting to discuss the designs I came up with well…" her cheeks flushed red in an instant. Smokescreen thought it was very cute but his eagerness to hear how the story ended topped that. "Inside the folder was a sketch of a nude woman amongst the others and let's just say my employers got a very big shock"

Smokescreen couldn't recall the last time he had laughed so hard; it must have been long ago before Cybertron died. "I don't think it could have gotten any worse for you, Bells"

At the nickname he had assigned her Bella blushed. Her heart beating just a little bit faster to which she didn't understand "I literally don't understand how I could have misplaced that piece into my work folder. I've never been able to live it down."

"Yours is definitely worse than mine on that one" still the two of them were engulfed with laughter.

Neither of the two could have imagined that reminiscing of past mistakes and embarrassments could have been so amusing. "Thank you, Smokescreen. I've never had so much fun. Having said that the only people I've really socialised with is Jack and his mother June" it was a saddening thought but it never bothered her that much up until this point.

"The same can be said for me. I've known only war and seeing the others with human charges has made me envy the companionship"

The laughter had finally died and Bella placed her hand delicately on to his dashboard "Well now you have me" she gave a warm smile.

She wanted to say something further but reality came back to them as the road in front of the moving Indy 500 blew up. Bella let out a small scream at the sudden scare, her hands quickly clinging to the seat beneath her. "Hold on!" she heard Smokescreens voice but the words didn't register as the race car swerved around the large hole and then began drifting sideways to avoid getting shot. Crimson red blasts of energy flew past them hitting the ground around 's heart began to pound in her chest from the presence of danger now around them. She tried to calm herself down, breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth. It was becoming difficult however, with the constant shifting that tossed her from side to side inside the moving vehicle. The red head wanted to ask what was going on but the words refused to form in her mouth.

His door mirrors shifted to look at the attacker and Smokescreen immediately identified the minicon "Laserbeak's on our tail!" the panic in the young autobots voice was very clear and just worsening Bella's panic that was building. His one and only concern at this time was to protect Bella. His evasive manoeuvres increased the more the flying minicon shot at them. This only worried Smokescreen more; he could sense the panic rising within the human female and he wasn't sure what to do. Trying to calm her down would be pointless without eliminating the actual threat to her first and it wasn't like he knew what to do. "Just breathe, Bells."

He chose not to tell her his next moves knowing that such an act would make her panic even more. Right now the heat of the moment was making her lose control of her breathing, her form shaking and eyes growing wider and wider the more time they spent under attack. Dodging another attack Smokescreen swiftly transformed into his bi-pedal form; Bella being jerked from his passenger seat into his servo. He held her close to his chest plate for extra protection as he transformed his free servo into his blaster. Aiming it high at the minicon that attacked them first. Bright blue began to emanate from his weapon as it was charging up ready to fire but before he could release the energy Smokescreen was shot at from behind.

The shot smacked him on his back, throwing him forward and onto the ground. As they landed with a loud thunderous thud Bella rolled out of his hand. His grip on her lost as was his hold on consciousness. The red head had been brave to not scream from the sudden attack but that didn't stop her from shuddering at the danger that was now around her. The sand of the desert clung to her clothes and hid itself in her hair as she looked up to Smokescreens smoking form. He had taken quite a hit for the two of them. "Smokescreen" her voice came out croaky but she knew he heard her, his optics flickering as he looked to her. She tried stand but fell back to the desert floor after her wobbly knees gave out.

The sound of metal shifting drew there attention to the side where they saw a faceless mech watching them. Bella didn't know what to make of him, did he have a face at all? He sort of reminded her of slender man with how he was shaped. "Soundwave…" Smokescreen's voice made her look back to where he was struggling to stay awake. Her heart rate went through the roof with worry as she attempted to stand back up on her feet again. Smokescreen's only worry at this time though was the human female he had taken charge of. Soundwave was a dangerous decepticon and as much as he wanted to get up and run away with Bella to safety he couldn't. He felt his systems going into sleep mode one by one. "Bella…run" he groaned as his optics showed every ounce of fear he had for her safety before they offlined and Smokescreen fell unconscious.

The red head screamed internally at seeing her friend pass out in front of her. She tried to ignore her aching body that she could feel beginning to bruise to rush to him. Her hand immediately going to cling to his giant ones; tears forming in her emerald green eyes "Smokescreen" she didn't know what to do now. As much as she wanted to find help she couldn't bring herself to leave Smokescreen. The red head had completely disregarded who had attacked them until she heard the approached footsteps.

A gasp escaped her mouth as she peered over her shoulder to see the faceless robot looking down on her. She couldn't see any eyes but could feel them piercing into her soul. She could feel the panic starting to build within her again, her heart still hammering away in her chest. A greenish looking portal opened behind him and her breathing grew erratic as the next thing she knew the faceless decepticon had been yanked up from the ground and held firmly in his hands. Her fingers clung on to his in her panic.

Soundwave then took a hold of Smokescreen's foot and began to drag him along the floor towards the green portal. Bella's eyes growing wider and wider the closer they got to it. There weren't any words to describe how much she wanted Smokescreen to wake up and get her out of there. She wanted to struggle free but her whole body felt paralysed. Multiple running footsteps caught her attention as she peered at four other bots running at them. Each of them with looks of concern on their faces to which she could only gather that they were the other autobots that Smokescreen had told her about. They were too late however as their forms disappeared as she was taken through the portal. Her stomach immediately felt queasy and her head began to ache before she could even register that she was now in a completely different place. She was disorientated and dizzy from the instant transportation. Her surroundings now consisted of dark and gloomy corridors where the cold air lurked. She couldn't even fathom where they were being taken, each time it was a series of twists and turns that led into very similar corridors. Her thoughts wondered and couldn't stay on one thing. What she did know was that her medication was still in her backpack…which was still inside Smokescreen. There was no way she would be able to get to it to help her with the incoming panic attack.

She let out a yelp when her body felt like it was flying through the air. Soundwave had thrown her to a vehicon that had quickly caught her while the faceless decepticon hauled Smokescreens unconscious body into a relatively cold room. Feeling the tightness of the mechs digits around her made her feel restrained. Her skin began to shake as her thoughts carried her away to all the worst things that could happen to her.

Bella struggled to focus on what was going on in front of her; she saw Soundwave lug Smokescreen on to a metal berth and restrain his hands and legs so he wouldn't be able to escape when he woke. After that she couldn't concentrate on her thoughts or her current surroundings. "So the autobots have a new pet amongst them" the evil warlord Megatron made himself known in the med bay as he noticed the presence of a human in his warriors clutches. "She will prove useful should the autobot decide not to cooperate with us, or perhaps as future leverage against Optimus Prime"

"I don't think the human will prove that beneficial, Lord Megatron. She doesn't seem to be blinking…" the decepticon medic got a closer look at the red headed female "her skin is vigorously shaking and her heart rate is out of control which is abnormal and probably dangerous for a human" the red mech wanted to examine her further but he already knew that his master wouldn't allow such a thing at this time.

It was clear that the warlord was becoming agitated "the human female only needs to be alive long enough to give us what we need, Knock Out" he stood with his hands behind his back. His posture suggesting his high authority and demand for respect.

Long minutes that felt like hours passed by in silence as they all waited for the rookie was awaken. The young mech murmured as he began to stir. His optics slowly onlining as they grew a more vibrant blue. Knock Out moved to stand over his restrained form with a smirk on his faceplates. Smokescreens phase shifter having moved from the rookie's arm to Knock Out's. "Wakey, wakey" the sound of Knock Out's teasing voice made Smokescreen fully aware and conscious.

"What?!" seeing Knock Out above him and the gloomy surroundings of the decepticon war ship. Instantly he began to struggle against his restraints in the attempt to get free. He hadn't yet noticed anyone else in the room, not even the still form of Isabella towards the room's only exit.

Smokescreen frowned seeing the pleasure that his struggling made on the medics face but that wouldn't stop him. He was in enemy territory and needed to escape as soon as he could. His thoughts quickly shifted to the relic that he had held, phase shifter that was supposed to be on his arm but when he looked down to it, it was gone.

There was a slight chuckle from beside him at his confusion "if you're looking for your phase shifter" Knock Out immediately jerked his arm up for the rookie to see clearly – revealing the location of the Iacon relic "finders keepers" his voice already showed how pleased he was to finally be in possession of it.

A low growl came from the other side of Smokescreen; his attention snapped to the hulking silver form of the former gladiator. "Enough prattling Knock Out!" Megatron moved closer to the berth where Smokescreen was being held on. The warlord looked very happy and sure of himself his sharp dentas protruding from his mouth in a devilish manner. "Hand over the final Iacon relic now or…" he moved to the side so that Smokescreen could see Isabella being tightly held by a vehicon. The instant that Smokescreen laid optics on her paralysed form he began to struggle even more to the point that it sounded as if his restraints were going to break.

"BELLA!" his scream for the red head could have easily shook the whole warship. She didn't respond to him however, she was still as silent as ever. Her skin pale and shivering – her eyes cast down to the floor and not moving to even look at him. The rookie already deduced that she was having one of her panic attacks and at this moment he couldn't do a single thing to help her unless there was something that the decepticons wanted that he could give to them in exchange for her safety. But that seemed unlikely and he didn't wish to go against his autobot vows.

Megatron smirked at the clear alarm on Smokescreens faceplates. He definitely has the advantage and therefore the power. He finally decided to end his sentence now that the young autobot was made aware of the circumstances "I may be forced to use extreme force against the human"

"Let her go!" Smokescreens voice was clearly laced with concern and nothing else, not in the least bit for his own safety. "You hear me! Leave Isabella out of this" Megatron had great respect for the fact that humans always seemed to be the weak link with the autobots.

He sneered at the human as her chest heaved up and down. "The human will be spared if you chose to cooperate. Give me the final Iacon relic"

Again Knock Out couldn't help but get a closer look at the human. Her behaviour interested him; he was aware she was alive and yet her actions suggested otherwise. He couldn't believe the young mech had little concern for his own life and more for the human "She appears to be broken anyway, My Lord. It would be better off to put her out of her misery…or I wouldn't mind taking her off your hands"

The rookie body filled with rage, knowing Knock Out planned on experimenting on her and bringing her great pain if he got his servos on her. "You dare touch her and I'll rip out your spark! She's not broken, she's having a panic attack" still he struggled to no avail.

"Enough! The relic" Megatron was really losing his patience now.

"The phase shifter was the only one I was carrying" the rookie was getting irritated.

The warlord clenched his fist, not having received the answer he was looking for which greatly displeased him "Soundwave". On command the communications officer took a small step forward and displayed on his visor the final Iacon entry which took the form of a pixelated image of Smokescreen himself.

"You got the wrong guy, chief. Optimus Prime is the one who can decode the Iacon database" the rookie had to calm himself down and try to play it cool for both their sakes. If he ever wanted to make it out alive with Bella.

There was a slight chuckle from the gladiator "but you misunderstand. The final entry has been decoded by us and according to our findings, it would appear I do indeed have the right guy" the warlord smirked as he stepped aside to allow a clear view to Soundwave. His blank visor quickly lighting up with the Iacon entry in question. As it did the image began to fizzle to life to show an image of Smokescreen himself which confused him.

He didn't believe it, his thoughts betrayed him as his processor tried to make sense of this new information. "The question is: what is it that you are still packing?" Knock Out moved swiftly; hovering a scanner over the young autobots form. It beeped as an outline of the relic they all seeked became visible on the screen. The medic smirked devilishly "why hidden treasure of course"

Megatron saw this too and displayed just as much confusion. There was an obvious reason for there being multiple relics that were the same but as of yet he was unaware of it. "Yet another of these identical relics" if Smokescreen wasn't surrounded by his enemies he would have let out a sigh of relief "remove it swiftly" guess he jinxed that one.

"With pleasure" Knock Out transformed his servo into his favoured buzz saw "I do so resent a finish flashier than my own" at that the decepticon medic slowly began to inch his closer and closer to Smokescreens chassis. The young mech frowned as he tried to wriggle free but to his surprise Knock Out retracted his saw, his limb returning to normal. "Ha, made you skirm" he laughed. Activating the phase shifter on his arm he began to test it out. His other servo passing right through his body. He then stomped his foot on the floor – noticing that he wasn't phasing right through it.

It was at this point that colour began to return to Isabella's skin. She was no longer shivering and she was blinking more frequently. Her heart was still beating so fast that it could outrun a racehorse. It seemed her panic attack was fading, her thoughts finally coming back to her. She recalled her last panic attack and didn't know which one was worse. Both of them seemed to have consumed her but now that she felt more in control she would be able to slowly calm herself. If only the same could be said for escaping this predicament. "Get your stinkin' hand out of my gears" she recognised Smokescreens voice and concentrated hard on it. Her heart rate soothing down…that was until she moved her gaze to where she saw her friend tied to a metal table with a decepticon sticking his arm into his chest.

The red head wasn't sure if she wanted to go back into her paralysed state instead of looking what was going on before her "Smokescreen!" she couldn't help the outburst which caught everyone's attention. Bella tried to reach him but it was only then that she realised she was being held by another decepticon. This one looked just like the other ones that had tried to kill her the other day. His grip on her was firm to prevent her from falling or getting free. Knock Out gladly pulled the relic out of Smokescreen so that all in the room could see it with their own eyes. Bella easily identified it as one of the Omega Keys that Smokescreen was adamant on retrieving for his comrades.

When she case her gaze back to him she locked eyes with him and could see the pain that he showed though it didn't seem to be physical pain "Bella, I'm going to get you out of here" the tone of his voice gave it away. Pain that he couldn't protect her. Pain at the thought that neither of them were going to make it back alive.


	5. Chapter 5: Skydives

**You'll never be alone again**

**Chapter 5: Skydives**

Megatron looked over the mysterious relic within his medics grasp carefully. He observed the form of the relic as being the same as the others he had seen. He didn't see much difference at all. One thing he did note though was that the autobots fought hard and well to get their hands on these artefacts so that had to have value. "Tell me the function of these relics".

It seemed quite obvious that Megatron would try to bargain their lives for the information he seeked but Smokescreen knew that no matter the cost he couldn't tell. The knowledge was far more valuable than their lives "doorstops, shaver, bling. Beats me" a giggle from the red head only made the gladiator even more frustrated.

The warlord grumbled, his interrogation wasn't going the way he wanted it to go. Trying to withhold his fury he unsheathed his blade and pointed it at Bella while he aimed his cannon mounted on his other arm at Smokescreen. "The relics function right now or your pet meets an excruciating end". Smokescreen didn't need to consider those options he looked to Bella apologetically but could see how understanding she was. She never expected him to give up the means of saving his planet for her life. Staying quiet the rookie only added to Megatrons frustration. The evil decepticon didn't like not getting an answer so he turned to the human who fidgeted in his warrior's servo, the blade obviously making her uncomfortable "I will allow you to leave unharmed, human. But only if I get what I am after" now he was trying to bargain with Bella.

Of course she knew. Smokescreen had entrusted her with that knowledge which mean that it wasn't her place to tell even if it did save her life. She might not have known about cybertronians long but just by looking at Megatron she could tell he would likely go back on his word. Honour meant nothing to him. His desire seemed to rule all on this warship. Her emerald gaze looked to Smokescreen; he was clearly concerned. She raised the corners of her mouth a little in a small smirk as she built up her courage. "Ok" she hung her head down low as she tried to hold her nerve. Bella's body feeling very weak from her intensified panic attack "you loop a nice chain through the handle, then hang it around your neck and you've got yourself a very flattering necklace" she locked eyes with the warlord.

He had listened closely thinking he had finally broken her but his body shook with fury. He was being played for a fool and he hated that. He grumbled as his body shook with anger. "I have no use for a human on my ship! Get rid of it immediately!" the vehicon nodded to his master before turning around to leave.

Isabella began to panic again instantly. They wanted her dead now and she could do anything about it. She tried to squirm free but the decepticons grip was too strong for her "Smokescreen!" she couldn't see him anymore and felt her heart rate go through the roof again.

"Bella! Leave her alone…Let her go!" Smokescreen struggled to try and save her but it was futile.

Only then did Knock Out look over the prisoner before them while he also inspected the phase shifter on his person "pity this little gadget won't allow me to reach into his brain plan and pluck out the info"

"Pity this little gadget won't allow me to reach into his brain plan and pluck out the info" Knock Out's idea quickly got the attention of his master.

"Fortunately, we possess a device that can" both decepticons looked down on their prisoner. It was the last thing Bella heard before she was forced out of the med bay and into the gloomy corridor with the vehicon. Tears streamed down her cheeks at the thought of her untimely death. This was all way of her head and she couldn't do anything about it.

From the sound of it Smokescreen wasn't in the best of situations either. She didn't know what the warlord had instructed his medic to do but it gave her the impression that they were going to infiltrate the rookie mind. That terrified her even more than she already was; she had grown to care for the young autobot. "Smokescreen!" she screamed down the hallway hoping that he could hear her still. It didn't take long for the vehicon trooper to quickly get irritated with her fussing so he began to throw her in the air a little and then catch her like a small ball. The red head yelped from being treated like a game. Her body was tossed and turned in the air which made her disorientated. She couldn't make out where she was now being taken or even where they had come from. "Fuck. Help"

"Silence, human!" the trooper caught her one last time by her leg and let her dangle there. The young woman gasped out as she tried to make sense of her surroundings.

Abruptly they came to stop and the decepticon holding her began having a conversation with another. His grip on her leg loosening slightly. She had no interest in what was being said, only escaping and finding Smokescreen. Bella gave her foot a jiggle as she tried pulling. It wasn't long before she freed herself and fell to the ground with a loud thud. Her heart pumped hard and she could feel herself wanting to slip away into a panicked state again but she wouldn't let that happen. Not now.

She could feel her bruises setting in to her skin; her limbs aching from being tossed around in the air. Picking herself up she let her feet take her away from the place. Now that she was on the ground she couldn't help but notice the size of the warship around her. She could hear the large steps of the vehicon behind her which made her skin shiver. She was beginning to struggle for breath as she turned a corner and quickly hugged the wall. The darkness hide her form from view as she tried to hold her breath in an attempt to stay silent. Bella vigilantly watched as the vehicon after her ran by. She waited until he was completely out of her sight before releasing her breath and beginning to breathe heavily. She clutched at her chest for a moment before moving in the opposite direction that the vehicon had gone.

The redhead took each of her steps carefully so she wouldn't draw any attention. This unknown territory had her jumpy – the hairs on the back of her neck standing on edge. There was no noise other than the general hum she could detect from the engines of the ship. She really had no way of knowing where she was going or where Smokescreen was. For now she was trusting her instincts to lead her to wherever it was. Bella kept one hand on the metal wall to help her stay orientated. The need to shout for the rookie was filling her but she had to repress it.

Bella could feel her heartbeat against her rib cage. It was almost as if it was threatening to burst out of her body. Eventually she came to a small junction where the ship seemed to separate into four directions. She was hesitant, trying to build up her courage to carry on. Quickly closing her eyes and taking in a strong breath she placed one foot in front of the other and began to sneak around the corner. Bella wasn't looking where she was going however, her gaze surveyed the other hallways that she chose not to venture down. They seemed empty so she turned her attention to what was in front of her. The instant that she did so her emerald eyes widened and she froze on the spot. Her skin shivering as a gasp left her mouth. "Shit!" Bella didn't stand around long. Her body turned tail and began running in the other direction only for her to get snatched off the ground. Her hands grasped on to the appendage that was wrapped around her waist and hoisted her up. She kicked her legs to no avail.

Only when she was hanging in front of the deadly mech did she stop, her body becoming deadly still. She was forced to stare into his faceless visor as his tendril held her up so he could clearly see her. She was able to fully see him now and observed his sleek form. It was no wonder that the silent third in command was found to be quite intimidating. His limbs weren't very thick but there was no mistaking the strength within them, which meant he was quite agile and swift as well. So it was no surprise that she didn't hear his footsteps coming down the corridor. Bella dared not to blink as she tried to find a pair of eyes looking into her soul behind that sheet of glass. But she didn't find any.

She forced herself to blink when she registered the arrival of someone else behind her. The sound of the voice she recognised as the vehicon in charge of disposing of her. "My apologies, Sir. She managed to escape my hold as I was proceeding with Lord Megatrons orders" the trooper looked down as a sign of respect to the third in command and in shame. He had failed once because of her escape; the one thing he didn't want was Soundwave informing their master of this failure. He knew of the gladiators punishments and did not desire one.

Soundwave looked to the human in his hold and then to the vehicon. As per usual he said nothing and didn't even make any other noise, not even a grunt, which was what Bella expected him to do in the least. The lingering silence made Isabella incredibly uncomfortable, her gaze zipping from the vehicon trooper then to the silent communications officer and then back again. She couldn't do anything more when Soundwave tossed her towards the vehicon who caught her swiftly. He kept her tightly grasped within his servo as he began to move off again to carry out his orders.

Bella once again began to struggle in the hope of being able to get away again but it was futile. The last thing the redhead wanted to do was give up but there was no way she could see out of this. She was sure her heart missed a beat at the thought of this being her last moments. It made her look back on her life and realise something…she had always felt that her disorder held her back but it was truly her that held herself back. All she wanted to do was travel the world and see all the amazing places that she imagine there was. All the places she painted in her art pieces.

Then there was this flash in her mind and all she saw was Smokescreen. His shiny white paintjob with the blue accents. She could see his glowing blue optics just peering into her soul but it didn't creep her out like you'd think it would. Those eyes gave her great comfort even when she knew she would never actually get to see them with her own emerald ones again. Bella couldn't believe how angry she had been with him not that long ago and within the short time she had known him she had grown close to him. Her eyes began to water as she forgot to blink. She had been so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't even realise where they now were. The sting of cold air lingered on her cheeks, the cold air making her skin start to turn blue and shiver uncontrollably. Then there was her light headedness – the warship must have been at quite a high altitude because she was finding it hard to breathe properly. Her lungs not getting the right amount of oxygen that she required. It was only then that she saw they were on the flight deck of the ship. Was the vehicon trooper planning on throwing her off the ship and letting her fall to her death?

She began to struggle again in the troopers servo as he slowly approached the edge "oh god. No" she tried pushing his digits away to loosen his grip but it was no use. "Oh shit" her eyes grew wider and wider the more she got closer to her demise.

A moment flew by when Bella recognised a very welcomed and protective voice "get your own human!" the decepticon turned around to face the voice but was punched right in his head. Bella screamed as she was thrown into the air and felt herself begin to fall. Panic hit her but was suddenly vanquished when she felt warmth wrap around her. Her sudden drop was stopped and before she knew it she was gazing into the caring gaze of her rookie. "And don't hurt mine" Smokescreen frowned at the decepticon in front of him.

Isabella kept her concentration on her friend as he appeared to be very angry. The rookie held the red head close to his chest plates as he landed another punch to the vehicons helm with his other servo and then kicked him off of the side of the warship. The last the two of them could hear was the vehicons screams as he fell "hmm not a flyer, who knew?" Smokescreen joked. Bella quickly felt her fear dissipate from her body from the comfort that Smokescreen now gave her.

It didn't take her long to notice the he was holding two Omega Keys in his other hand as he seemed to scanning over her form to look for injuries. "I'm fine Smokescreen" she laughed as she felt him touch one of her ticklish spots "how did you get the Omega Keys?" she asked.

"Funny story; I left Knock Out stuck in a wall and snatched the Omega keys from Megatron and his vault before he could do anything" the rookie seemed pretty happy with himself until a new presence joined them on the flight deck and they were no longer alone.

They observed the menacing warlord stroll onto the flight deck with a less than happy expression. He was followed by two troopers by his side "the keys" Megatron lifted his arm to hold his hand out. That was probably the nicest way he was going to ask for the relics. The others beside their master charged their weapons and aimed them at Smokescreen and Bella.

The rookie held the young woman close to him for protection as he took a step back closer to the edge. He peered over his shoulder plates at the drop. His processor going over a completely insane idea particularly with Bella with him but he didn't see another option at this point. "A pity you are incapable of flight" the gladiator smirked.

"Yeah, like I'm going to let that stop me" again Smokescreen glanced behind him before looking down to see the petrified look on Bella's face. "Trust me?" it was a clear question that only Bella could hear. She made eye contact with him and from that he could see all the trust that he needed. She nodded to him, not letting precious seconds slip by that they needed.

Smokescreen didn't need anything more as he jumped off the side of the warship. Somehow Smokescreen was calm; his main objective at this point was to keep Bella alive. Though he wasn't really sure how at this point. "Smokescreen!" Bella screamed out his name in fear and he tightened his hold on her a little to make sure she was safe with him.

The red heads hair whipped at her face as she fell through the air with the rookie. She had a claw like grip on what she grab on to of his digit. Adrenaline rushed through her veins that made her almost pass out or perhaps that was her fear of going splat on the ground.

"Smokescreen to base, I could really use a ground bridge" Bella heard Smokescreen talk to someone over his comm link. This made Isabella feel a little better that he had some sort of plan to keep them both alive. She couldn't help but let out a scream however when she saw blasts flying past them. Some coming ever so close to hitting the two of them. Smokescreen noticed this and did his best to dodge them but was struggling the other things that were also on his mind. He peered over his shoulder to see a couple of vehicons above them trying to shoot them. "Vehicons have lousy timing" the rookie complained as he began working on ways around it. He placed the two Omega Keys on his back plating and held Bella as close to his spark chamber as he could while he leaned his body forward as much as possible. With the forces of gravity and the pressure of falling high from the sky it made it quite difficult. But it was slowly working. His body began to fall faster so that he was putting a little bit of a distance between them and the vehicons. It made it much harder for the decepticons to try and hit them the faster they both fell.

Activating the phase shifter on his arm Smokescreen slowed their descent. The troopers had sped up to try and keep up with the two escaping from the warship but before they could slow down as well they phased straight through Smokescreen and Bella, which freaked her out a little. Smokescreen instantly transformed his free hand into his own weapon and shot the vehicon beneath them into a fiery ball that they pass right through unharmed. The young autobot made sure to shield Bella from everything that presented a danger to her. A voice then came over Smokescreens comm channel that the both of them could hear clearly "Smokescreen, I'm opening a ground bridge directly below you."

The young woman observed as some mystical greenish-blue portal opened beneath them "the hell is that thing?" her voice was completely laced with confusion and terror.

"It's a ground bridge, it'll take us right in to base" Smokescreen had to raise his voice a little. His audio receptors picked up a slight ringing as did Bella in her ears. There wasn't time to explain the complexities of the ground bridge but he made a quick note in his processor to go over it with Bella later on. "Brace yourselves, we're going to make quite an entrance" the rookie announced to the other autobots.

It only came to Bella then that they were going to fall through that thing. Inside herself she was screaming but the actual sounds just didn't come out. "Oh god! Please let this end well" Smokescreen could feel her shaking with fear. But she tried to shake that away when the thrumming of a jet caught her ear – her head snapped to the side to see said jet looking very intimidating and approaching at very high speeds "Smokescreen, look out!" she pointed but it was already too late.

Megatron in his alternate form slammed right into them. The impact send shocks through both of them and sent them off course from where they were going to go through the ground bridge. Smokescreen lost grip on Bella which made her spiral out of control as she began to fall faster than Smokescreen. "Bells" Smokescreen began to panic. The ground bridge really wasn't going to work now. He needed to work fast to get to Bella before they smacked into the floor. The ground of which was growing closer and closer with every heartbeat. He looked to the relic on his arm and then to where he heard the screams coming from Bella below his form. "I hope proper grounding on this thing doesn't apply to actual ground" seeing their death rapidly approaching Smokescreen decided to finally act.

Leaning forward to fall faster Smokescreen reach his hand out to the screaming red head. He tried huddling his body in on itself to get a bit more momentum and that when he was finally able to wrap his digits around her waist and pull her words his chest plates. "I've got you, Bella" he quickly turned the phase shifter back on and shifted himself so that his back was now facing the ground. He huddled himself around her body and immediately noticed that she had stopped screaming. Hoping that if his plan didn't work that he would take the full impact and Bella would survive, he brought his over hand over her to help shield her while he offlined his optics and accepted what was going to happen.

Seconds past…minutes and neither Smokescreen nor Bella felt anything other than a slight tingling. Bella couldn't quite make out where she was, all she saw was black. "Smokescreen?" she had to call out to him just to make sure that he wasn't dead and the same went for her.

"Yeah?" she heard his sceptical answer and still felt his warmth around her.

Bella let out a sigh of relief particularly where she could make out his form now. "So we're both alive? Good. Where are we?"

Smokescreen began to chuckle as he figured it out "well if we're both alive then…in a rock."

The young woman found this a little humorous too but didn't dwell too much on it as she felt Smokescreen moving. Exhaustion soon took her over from the rush of not just adrenaline but everything else that was possible.

Smokescreen wasn't completely sure where he was going but he carried on taking careful steps in the hope of finding the open surface so that they wouldn't be stuck in a literal hard place. It wasn't long before both of them were in the bright light of day. Bella had to squint her eyes from the brightness "hey Ratchet, I could still really use that ground bridge" Smokescreen kept his voice to a whisper in the case that Megatron was around somewhere close by. The warship was still high above them so the rookie didn't want to take any chances by hanging before the two of them were spotted again.

The rookie didn't get a reply but the requested ground bridge opening in front of them. There was some relief from the two of the now knowing that they would be safe. The young autobot looked down to his human companion "how do you feel about meeting the others now?"

Bella wanted to laugh a little but her tiredness just wouldn't let her "I think, after what I have just been through, I'll be fine with it all"

He nodded before taking confident steps in the ground bridge to return to the autobot base.


	6. Chapter 6: Meetings

**You'll never be alone again**

**Chapter 6: Meetings**

The environment of the ground bridge had Bella all woozy, she literally felt like she had left part of herself back inside that rock that the two of them had phased through. Her insides felt all over the place and if it wasn't for Smokescreen's protective hold on her then she would be freaking out. That or she would have passed out from the lack of energy she now possessed from the adventure she never thought she was going to have that day.

As they materialised out the other side Bella's eyes almost popped out their sockets. "Stay calm, Bells. The others aren't as bad as I make them out to be. I'm the one in trouble for all this" his voice relaxed her nerves as she suddenly began to remember to breathe properly. She noticed how each of the autobots were looking at Smokescreen with some relief on their faceplates. She noted this as the biggest of the mechs moved stoically forward.

"We are pleased to see you return safely, Smokescreen" his voice was laced with grace that Bella could easily identify as that of being a leader.

Smokescreen smiled and leaned down. As gently as he could he placed Bella back down on the ground and then reached back to grab a hold of the Omega Keys that he stowed away on his back plates. He brought them out for everyone to see and the rookie didn't miss the glint in everyone's optics as they took a step closer. None of them couldn't believe that the relics that they had worked and fought so hard over were now right in front of them. "How did you obtain both Omega Keys and still manage to escape the decepticon warship?" Ratchets voice was the most stunned that Smokescreen had ever heard.

Bella wasn't quite sure about what she should do. But at this point she was glad that there wasn't any attention on her at that moment. Instead she chose to hide behind Smokescreens foot in the hopes that she would be forgotten about like she normally was in her life. "Snatched the one Alpha Trion entrusted to me out of Megatrons servos and stole the other from his vault" he was really smug with himself now. For once he could see that he done well for their cause.

This was the kind of achievements that he had wanting to be made since he joined Team Prime on Earth. A questioning buzz got everyone's attention next as Bumblebee noticed the human presence amongst them and asked who she was. Smokescreen rubbed the back of his head knowing what was to come. He looked down to see the red head looking a bit nervous. She was biting down on her bottom lip as she scanned each of the autobots in her own way; making a note of each of them and how they fit in to the stories that she was told by Smokescreen. The rookie lifted his foot up and placed it down just behind the young woman in question so that everyone could see her. "Everyone this is Isabella. She's been with me this whole time" now all eyes were on Bella and she hated that. She wanted to go back to hiding behind Smokescreens foot but new that would be a childish thing to do. She wasn't shy just unsure of what to do with all the attention that was currently on her. The rookie then knelt down so that he was closer to Bella as he spoke to her "Bella this is Optimus Prime, Bulkhead, Ratchet, Bumblebee and..." Smokescreen pointed to each of them but before he could talk of the only femmes name in the room Bella said it first.

"Arcee" the femme was a bit confused how her name was already well known to the human femme. "It's nice to finally meet all of you"

Optimus took note of the words she used. "Smokescreen how long have you known this human and how long has she been aware of us?"

Bella could see the concern on the leaders face and the dread on Smokescreens so she decided to step up "it's not Smokes fault. I've known about you all for the same amount of time that I've known Smokescreen" she could see a lot of questions plaguing on all of their faces but Smokescreens. "Smokescreen saved me from a decepticon attack and from myself and since then we've done a lot of talking"

"You're supposed to follow protocol should your cover be blown, Smokescreen" now it was Ratchet that was having a go at the young autobot.

"That one is on me" Bella raised her hand like she was in trouble in a class full of students "I suffer from a severe panic disorder and i asked Smokescreen to give me some time. I really struggled that night with almost dying I didn't think i could take all this in the same day...today I don't really have a choice in the matter"

The room fell silent but Smokescreen gave a playful nudge with his digit to Bella. It made her instantly smile as she saw how close his faceplates where to her. She could already feel her energy beginning to come back to her from the comfort that emanated from Smokescreen to her. Optimus noticed that though no words had been spoken, Bella and Smokescreen seemed to be having their own kind of conversation. He took note of how their eyes lingered on each other. "Perhaps a debrief is in order" the leader finally broke the silence and the team seemed to move closer to the large monitors.

Isabella stopped Smokescreen before he left her side quickly. "Smoke, is there somewhere I close my eyes for a minute or two. My body is finding it hard to go from one extraordinary situation to another" the rookie gave her a soft smile and offered her his servo. Graciously she sat herself on his palm and allowed him to swiftly transport her over to where there was a sofa and television. Immediately Bella figured this was where the other humans that Smokescreen described to her must hang around.

The red head slipped off of the rookies palm when she was close enough to the floor and thanked him before she sat herself down on the sofa and tried to gather her thoughts. She couldn't quite believe what she was involved with now. She only thought she was going on a peaceful ride with Smokescreen but it had somehow turned into a kidnapping and a near death experience with the decepticons. She hadn't even considered this when she agreed to forgive Smokescreen; the fact that they had talked a lot meant the world to her. For once someone wanted to be around her but she hadn't thought of the consequences of this. Was she on the decepticons radar now?

These thoughts kept coming and going so she chose to close her eyes and try to push them away for the time being. Bella tuned out what the other bots where saying to each other but still felt like she needed to stay alert. There was something that kept her vigilant and not want her to let her guard down but she didn't know what. It was like she was being watched, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on point. "Isabella" the red head her name being called and looked behind her to see the blue femme named Arcee standing there.

Bella stood from the sofa and moved to the railing "you can call me Bella. Isabella sounds a bit formal to me" she smiled and Arcee did too.

It was the hope that no conflict would be created between them. "Bella, I couldn't help but notice that you seemed to know me more than the others" 

Bella looked down. From everything that Smokescreen had said she didn't picture the femme as a bad person. Just one that might not take the right approach at getting her point across. "Like I said earlier; Smokescreen and I talk a lot"

"I had an argument earlier with Smokescreen because he was too focussed on trying to be a war hero then being an autobot, and then drove out of the base…" Arcee thought quickly.

Bella nodded to the information she was being given but she already knew how it ended so she finished it for the femme "and he came right to me. It's not Smokescreen that is the problem but the way that you teach him"

Arcee immediately took offence to that "First of all Smokescreen should have followed protocol and brought you in the moment he was exposed. And secondly, Smokescreen isn't a sparkling. He learned how to fight in the Elite Guard so I shouldn't have to teach him anything" her voice was a little annoyed.

At this point their raised voices caught the attention of the others. The rookie in particular was abit surprised at the outbreak "Smokescreen said that it was basically a boot camp"

"That's because war broke out! We needed every available soldier out there"

This really surprised Bella. She made sure her voice was calm and in control with her next words "so how do you expect Smokescreen to know everything? He's only recently come to Earth and before that he was on security detail – you think in all that time Smoke miraculously learned how to work in a team…You had to learn somewhere which meant someone had to teach you" Bella gestured to the femme for more emphasis. Her eyes just glistened with wisdom as everyone listened to her "you can't tell him he's not being autobot when his goals are the exact same as yours. We have a saying on this planet: that you learn something new every day. Can you really tell me that you haven't learnt a single thing since someone stopped teaching you?" she looked to the others and they chose to remain silent. It provided the young woman with her answer. "From an outside perspective; you need to learn to work with Smokescreen and so does he. He doesn't need a criticiser, he needs a team mate" Bella decided to end her rant there and move back to the sofa. There she set herself down and closed her eyes in the hope of resting for a little while.

She blocked out all she could that was going around her but still managed to hear the apologies that Arcee and some of the other team had for the young rookie. She let her exhaustion take her for a while. Her little adventure having drained her along with the words that she had saved particularly for the autobot femme. Her breathing became calm and soft as she drifted into a light slumber.

Smokescreen on the other hand listened to Optimus' debrief and was quite taken aback by Isabella's confrontation with Arcee. He hadn't asked her to stand up for him. He had only found comfort in her company and opinions. Though he wouldn't take it back now; not after Arcee had apologised to him for being a little harsh on him. When the debrief was over he wanted to talk to Bella but his optics found her sleeping peacefully on the sofa. He didn't want to disturb her after the day she had. He blamed himself for that – he shouldn't have sought her out and placed her in danger. It actually surprised him that Optimus hadn't given him a lecture on his recklessness yet.

"Smokescreen, could I have a word?" the majestic voice of Optimus spoke out as the rest of the team seemed to separate to do their own thing.

Smokescreen really wasn't looking forward to this but he couldn't avoid it forever. He followed the Prime to the side of the room where he still had a clear view of Bella but no one else would be able to hear their conversation. "I'm sorry, Optimus. I know I should have followed your orders but…"

"Perhaps you should have" Optimus decided to not let Smokescreen think he was in trouble so he interrupted "but protocol, in my opinion, does not accommodate those that may find the experience of the learning the full truth about us a little more overwhelming that others. I had not considered medical conditions such as Isabella's before today, so you did the best possible thing you could have done. You used your initiative"

Smokescreen looked down to the ground before look back to his leader "so I'm not in trouble?"

"No, Smokescreen. You have done well given the circumstances that have come about since your arrival. It is also quite clear that you have developed a strong bond with Isabella. She feels safe and comfortable around which is why I would like you to act as her guardian as the others to with their charges"

"You're assigning me to Bella?" the rookie really couldn't believe it.

Optimus nodded in reply "the decepticons know about her now. She is a possible target and as such she must be protected. You seem to have already taken the responsibility of her safety as a priority which makes me confident that you will make an excellent guardian" Optimus' confidence in him only boosted his ego.

The two mechs looked to the slumbering human on the sofa. Smokescreen had to admit that since he had met Bella he was always concerned with her safety. Now it was official. She was his charge to watch over and protect. "Thank you, Optimus" Smokescreen saluted his commander before he moved away as a sign of respect. And then it was just Smokescreen left alone. He continued to watch over his new charge while he leant against the wall. The red head was safe in their base and until Optimus reported a mission for him there wasn't much of anything else to do. 

It wasn't long however, when her emerald eyes peaked open and she stretched her limbs to get them to wake up. Unfortunately it hurt more than she expected. Her bruises were setting in and her muscles ached from her previous adventure. A small nap wasn't going to change that fact. She pushed herself up into a sitting position on the sofa and heard soft footsteps approaching her. "How was the beauty sleep?" she recognised Smokescreens soft voice immediately and turned around to see him standing right by the railing looking down on her.

She smiled "Could have been longer"

"How are you feeling after everything?" he had to ask her to make sure.

Bella then began to fiddle with her fingers. She didn't really want to tell him the whole truth but she couldn't bring herself to lie to him and tell him she was fine. "Honestly I'm struggling a little. It's not every day you're kidnapped and go skydiving. Considering I met your enemies today and now your allies I'm a bit overwhelmed. But it was going to happen sooner or later"

Smokescreen rubbed the back of his head again. He blamed himself for all this "I was kinda hoping you wouldn't meet them all in one day. That way it would be easier on you"

"And I was kinda of hoping that I wouldn't have to see a decepticon stick his arm into your abdomen and pull out an Omega Key, like it was a magic trick" she looked at Smokescreen with a playful smirk "I guess we don't always get what we want"

A high pitch sequence of beeps from the computer monitors caught everyone's attention all of a sudden. The screens flashed a little and then displayed an image of another mech that Isabella didn't recognise. All of the autobots including Bella seemed to gather unconsciously around the monitors. Ratchet the medic seemed to take point at the controls knowing exactly how to operate their computers without even thinking about it. "It's a high frequency signal with an embedded message" he began typing vigorously.

"Starscream" Bella could hear the frown in Bulkhead's voice as he identified the new bot for her.

Ratchet then began to read the message that they had been sent "I have obtained something of use to you that seems to have no practical use to me"

"It's got to be the Omega key"

They seemed to rush at the thought that this was their chance to finally have all the Omega Keys that they needed "he's the one who blind-sighted me" Smokescreen worked it out. It couldn't have been another decepticon because there wasn't another Keys in Megatrons vault. If there had been then he would have stolen it just like he did with the other ones.

Bella took everything that was being said in. Leaning on the railing she thought about how this Starscream character could have pulled off such a stunt without Smokescreen knowing about it. "Is it possible that he's not working alone?" she had to ask.

"Starscream has been known to try and ally himself in the past but those have never worked out in his favour" Optimus noted that what she was saying could be true.

"Okay, let's say he's not working with anyone" Bella really wanted to help but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to this than it appeared "but even I know the importance of these Keys. Are you telling me that Starscream has no idea at all about these relics and their function? And if he really doesn't why doesn't he go to the decepticons instead of us?" she really surprised all of the autobots.

Ratchet was the first to react "Smokescreen, I like this human you've found" the caught the others off guard too. It took the old medic a while to warm up to the teenage humans they watched over. He tried to ignore them as he resumed his attention to the message that was in question "anyway, there's more. I only ask for the surgical replacement of my T-cog in return"

Bulkhead laughed at the end part of Starscream message "like we're going to give Scream back his wings" he was confident that this was not a deal to be made.

Bella was still a little confused "what's a T-Cog?"

Seeing a Ratchet was the medical chief and expert of the autobots he made sure that he was the one to answer her with accuracy "A T-Cog is the Cybertronian organ that allows us to scan vehicles and transform. It also gives us access to our weapons. But we must consider that without the missing key Cybertron will remain devoid of life"

It did sadden Bella that their home had been lost and the only hope for it seemed to be in the clutches of someone that wasn't aware of the power that they possessed.

"Broken record I know, but Bella could be right. This could be a trick" it was very clear that Arcee didn't trust the seeker one bit and now he had something of great importance and value to them.

"It is possible that Starscream does not yet realise the significance of what he holds" Optimus graciously spoke about that possibility.

Ratchet agreed with his leader, nodding to him "and we do know that he's been incapable of flight for some time"

Bella shook her head. Not agreeing with what was being said but she had only just met these bots and didn't want to intrude on their responsibilities too much. Then again she felt like there was something that was being missed here. "But if a T-Cog is as valuable as you say and he's demanding one for an Omega Key then maybe he does know the significance of it" she couldn't let them go through this without warning them of some of the dangers.

All eyes in the room turned to Optimus. It was his call after all. He took a moment to think about it, considering what Bella had brought to attention "the stakes are too great for us not to consider Starscreams proposal" he then looked to a rather worried Isabella "…however we will take precautions" this only worried her even more. She hadn't known the autobots that long at all so she didn't know what they were capable of. If the stories she had been told were anything to go by thought then they were powerful together. A strong team. "Bulkhead and Ratchet will join me in meeting Starscream. While Arcee, Bumblebee and Smokescreen will remain here to protect the other Omega Keys and remain cautious" all of them nodded showing their understanding of his orders.

None of them wasted any time in preparing to move out. Isabella wished she was back home where she knew she was safe. At least there no one noticed her; it was like she didn't exist. There she was in no danger and had nothing to lose but now she felt like she had so much to lose. There was something bigger now that she cared for in her life.

The femme bot Arcee moved to the ground bridge controls and opened a bridge from the base to their destination for them. While the three mechs one by one strode through the portal to meet Starscream. On the other hand, Bumblebee was vigilant as he had his blasters out and ready to fire should he need them. Arcee stayed by the ground bridge controls in case things went badly and she needed to shut off the direct line into their base.

Bella stayed up on the catwalk where she wouldn't get in the way. She had moved to a part that had a good view of the entire base. While Smokescreen stood behind Bumblebee and by Isabella. The young woman shivered, something not feeling right with the silence that lingered. Then there was this unknown breeze that seemed to materialise out of nowhere. She noticed her hair blowing around and a few small pieces whipping at her face. It was something she didn't remember the ground bridge doing before, so why would it do it now?

It was like a scene out of a horror film as the bright lights above them began to flicker for unknown reasons. The atmosphere around all of them became eerie. Only then did it dawn on her that she didn't have her medication and it was surely coming up to the time that she would need to take it. Considering that she had already been through a major panic attack that day she had already figured that taking one might help her should another present itself in the coming moments. Bella really hated not knowing what was going on through the other end of the ground bridge. It made her scared for what could happen next, her breathing going from calm and increasing the more she was left standing there waiting for something to happen. "Smokescreen" she whispered out his name so only he could hear. Immediately the rookie turned to meet her eyes and saw the fear growing inside her like a burning ember. His hard gaze from the moment softened for her "I don't have my medication on me. If I have another attack it could be…"

Smokescreen didn't let her finish "You won't need it. I promise I won't let anything happen to you" he nodded to her hoping that she understood just how seriously he was taking his new assignment as her guardian. Even within the autobot base she should have been completely safe but this was Starscream that they were now dealing with. At times he was quite unpredictable.

A powerful swoosh of air had Bella fall backwards on to her ass with a loud thump. She groaned from the new felt pain "what the hell was that" she spoke to which the others began to scan the area of the base around them.

"The ground bridge does create large movements of air" Arcee pointed out

That made them all tense. If the ground bridge didn't do that then that sudden gust of wind came from nowhere. Before they could question it any further the sprinklers above them all activated and water began to rain down on all of them. It didn't bother the bots too much but Bella was instantly soaked as her clothing clung to her body uncomfortably. The cold liquid making her cold, her skin shivering. Smokescreen saw this quite quickly and reacted by gently scooping Bella up into his servo while hovering his other servo over her to help keep the water off of her. Although she was wet already the rookie wanted to protect her as much as he could; he wasn't oblivious to how sick humans can get.

These sudden activities started to creep the red head out. It really was like a horror movie and she wasn't enjoying it. She clung to Smokescreen's fingers in the hope of feeling a bit safer that she currently felt.

She heard the sound of moving metal and looked to see the autobot femme shutting off the ground bridge. Bella presumed that something bad was going down on the other side of the ground bridge. The sudden gust of wind and the activation of the fire prevention sprinkler system wasn't normal. Something was going on. Once the swirling vortex closed all of them in the base looked to one another blankly. Bumblebee didn't waste time in shutting of the sprinklers to stop the water allowing Smokescreen to move the servo hovering of Bella to rest at his side.

He made sure that his digits wrapped securely around her form and watched as Bella began to chatter from the cold. Her body trying to snuggle further into his hold to get as much of the heat he was giving off. This made Smokescreen smile softly. He lifted her up which confused her slightly until he released his hold on her to allow her to sit on his shoulder. There her body curled up in the crook between his neck cables and his helm. Liking the closeness to the red head, the rookie slightly nudged her playfully with his helm. Only then did he receive a message through his comm link which was sent out to everyone – it was Optimus requesting a ground bridge back to the base.

At that each of the remaining autobots looked a bit disappointed; something seemed to have got the better of them. From the sound of others voice it didn't sound like good news.

All eyes in the base turned to where the ground bridge was turned back on and within a few small moments the shapes of Optimus Prime, Bulkhead and Ratchet emerged back through. Ratchet looking very angry while Bulkhead seemed quite sad. "What happened?" Considering that they didn't see the last remaining Omega Key in none of their grasps it had to be asked.

As leader Optimus felt it was his duty to inform them of what had transpired "Starscream now possess all four Omega Keys, and the fate of Cybertron now rests in his hands"

Bella gasped where the others remained silent in their disbelief. It was difficult to completely understand. All their hard work and the countless times they each put themselves in harm's way and for what? They now had nothing to show for it but their own lives. How had the devious seeker bested them without them even knowing?

Questions that plagued each and every one of them. Bella needed these answers more than the others to fully understand "But we were here the whole time and didn't see anything. How could he steal them?"

"Red energon. If consumed much like regular energon it gives the user the ability to move at super-fast speeds he would become virtually invisible to the naked optic until the effects wore off" Ratchet explained in as much detail as he could. It was his area of expertise.

Bella understood the importance of energon to them all but she hadn't considered that some would grant super abilities. "So I was him that hit me from behind. No wonder I didn't hear or see him" Smokescreen spoke irritated. He surmised that if he had collected that Key then they would currently possess all of the relics and wouldn't be facing a catastrophe.

"It's not your fault, Smoke. If he was using this red energon then you were at a strategic disadvantage" Bella had to try and put his mind at ease from it. There was no point in him dwelling on the past. Not when more important matters needed his attention and it wasn't like he could change it now.

All they needed to do now was focus on trying to regain the four Omega Keys so that Cybertron stood a chance.

**A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed. Let me know what you think!**


	7. Chapter 7: Close talks

**You'll never be alone again**

**Chapter 7: Close talks**

Isabella could see quite clearly that Smokescreen was distracted as he looked down. Once again he putting everything down to being his fault. This war he was fighting in was really taking a toll on him. The red head watched as Smokescreen was trying to listen to Ratchet and Optimus but his mind kept wondering. There was something else on his processor and she knew it. She stretched her mouth out in a yawn from the tiredness that was creeping up on her. Her panic attacks probably took most of her energy out of her and now she was still recovering. Bella wasn't even listening to Ratchet and Optimus either from her position on Smokescreen's shoulder.

She was still dripping wet from the sprinkler system and her skin shivering from how cold she was finding it. The rookie noticed this and was quick in plucking her off his shoulder and placing her down gently on the floor. "This used to a military base, see if you can go find a change of clothes somewhere before you get sick" he pointed down the hallway where he knew that he had seen a human changing room once.

"Thanks, Smoke" she smiled to him before timidly walking down to where he had pointed. Smokescreen watched her until she moved out of his sight into a room. That was when he heard the sounds of the others returning in his audio receptors. Each of their vehicle modes roared down the passage from the secret entrance to the base.

It hadn't been long since the three guardians left to pick up their charges from school and now here they were arriving back. Laughter quickly filling the room to life the spirits of each of the autobots as the children encouraged them to have fun. Smokescreen watched as each of the three teenagers exited their guardian's vehicle form and they swiftly transformed. As soon as Jack, Raf and Miko were out they quickly noticed the completely drenched floor. Their shoes tapping on the puddles that were all around them as they moved.

"What happened here?" the youngest adjusted his glasses that rest on his nose as he glanced all around the base.

The entire floor having been flooded with water. Miko groaned in slight annoyance as her mind automatically went to try and explain things "did you guys try and make an indoor swimming pool without me?" she mostly pointed to her guardian Bulkhead but he didn't know how to answer her.

"It was starscream" Arcee answered the teenage girl for him.

Miko thought for a quick moment "Starscream wanted an indoor pool? Wait! Did I miss a smack down with screamer?"

As much as the autobots were used to Miko's excitement of the fights that the bots got into, it did irritate them to a point when things were deadly serious and she could quite sense the tone. Arcee sighed and was going to say something further but Jack cut in "come on Miko, lets help clean up" the the oldest of the humans lead Raf and Miko over to where they knew there were mops.

"How come we have to clean up this mess? We didn't make it" Miko made sure her voice was well heard even as she was being forced to help clean the base.

Smokescreen leaned against the side of the base, one of his peds bent and placed on the wall as his arms were folded in front of him. He smiled seeing the connection that each of the guardians had with their charges and he grew excited to have that with Bella. His spark humming a little louder at the thought of being close to her.

The three teenage humans soon got to work trying to dry the floor of the water that was skattered everywhere. Ratchet began to help as well wanting his working environment to be pristine. "Looks like I'm joining you guys on guardian duty" Smokescreen thought it best that the others know of his new duty now.

He didn't miss how Arcee rolled her optics at him. He knew she didn't think he was up to the task which made him determined to prove her wrong. "It doesn't sound as easy as you think, Smokescreen" the rookie was preparing himself for her lecture about it all "unexpected things happen fast and you have to deal with that and put their needs before your own"

He didn't like how he was being spoken down to. "I've done that so far. I have done nothing but think of her safety. That's why Optimus trusts me with this"

Jack, Raf and Miko looked to each other as they listened to the conversation. Confusion was evident on their faces. "Wait a minute…" Raf had to interrupt and immediately looked as Miko seemed to be counting her fingers.

The young girl then looked up at the bots and counted them "three humans and three guardians. Why do we need a fourth?"

"For a fourth human maybe" all their gazes looked to where a voice appeared from behind the corner to the corridor. "So can anyone join your science-fiction club, Jackie?"

Jack Darby was shocked but from the embarrassment of his nickname he began rubbing the back of his head. "Bella? What are you doing here?"

The red heads hair had been rubbed down to get rid of the excess water but it was still soaked as it laid on her shoulders "and why are you wet? What happened here?" Raf spoke in confusion. The older woman obviously knowing more than they did at the current moment. She moved to stand right beside Smokescreens peds as she pondered what to tell them.

"Smokescreen saved my life…more than once. That's what I'm doing here and we had a bit of a run in with Starscream which is why it's wet everywhere" Bella only then stopped to inspect the autobot base and noticed that it really was drenched. Those were some powerful sprinklers that they had. "I'm presuming that this is why you have such amazing vehicles and June is alright with it. They're no actually your motorcycle or car".

Jack smiled seeing her finally understand everything "I'll explain later" he tried to excuse himself. Bella let out a small giggle at that. She was happy to know that even though it had been years since she babysat the teenager, when he was younger, she was still able to have a little fun with him. "So…when we talked in front of the art store…"

Isabella already knew what he was asking and answered the younger boy before he even finished his sentence "I was completely oblivious then until your very same car started stalking me" she raised her eye brows as she took a glance at the rookie. He smiled at the thought also a little embarrassed by her.

"I was attracted by your voice" he openly admitted.

Jack thought back on the day that Smokescreen technically first met the young woman. When he had been teaching the rookie about blending in and following the traffic laws and somehow the autobot had heard Bella singing from a few blocks away. "So you're still finding it difficult to blend in then?"

Bella smirked a little but tried to hide it as she could see Smokescreen watching her from the corner of her eye "Smoke has his good days and bad days in that department" she wanted to mention the whole attracted to her voice thing but decided that perhaps it was a conversation to be had in private with the autobot than with others around them. Smokescreen clearly looked even more uncomfortable about it now than he did only moments ago.

"So you've had a run in with ol'screamer eh? Did you fight him? Was it awesome?" Miko had a habit of talking really fast that people had trouble processing which question to respond to first

Bella yawned as the whole day's events seemed to begin to catch up with her. Never in her life had she had such an eventful day that she had felt so much adrenaline pumping through her veins. But she could feel the exhaustion taking over now. Bruises on her arms setting in that throbbed when touched and her muscles aching as they stretched. "Didn't really get to see him but I saw plenty of the other decepticons when they kidnapped me and Smokescreen" her emerald eyes reflected the tiredness that overcame her.

"Kidnapped?" all three of the teenagers spoke in unison as they questioned what had really happened that day that they had missed out on.

She made eye contact with Smokescreen; not particularly eager to relive the day just yet. "Could you take me home please? I think I've had enough adventures and surprises for one day"

Without hesitation Smokescreen took a cautious step back before transforming into his alternate mode. His passenger side door swinging open immediately to let Bella in. She willingly jumped in before anyone else could say something that would make her stop and the door closed for her as he began to gently roll forward towards the exit of the base. When they weren't in the confines of the town or around people Smokescreen allowed his wheels to go as fast as he could push it. Bella didn't mind this at all she loved it when he rolled down the windows and the air just blew right by her.

The rookie noticed her silence as she gazed out into the wilderness of the area. She softly breathed the fresh air in and felt the freedom it had flow through her body. "Why do like it when I go fast? Do you not feel the cold upon you?" he had to question her actions in the hope that they do not lead to her falling ill.

Bella let out a small laugh that almost made the rookie swerve out of control at these high speeds. It weakened him to the point that he went even faster than he knew he was able to go. "When I'm like this, I can't feel the cold. The speed and the air make me feel like I'm part of the wind – complete freedom. No rules and no limits. If I were the wind I could go anywhere I wanted without anything to hold me back" his processor took in each detail that she went over which made him feel like he was flying. He loved the way she spoke about these things that she had such passion for. Her words emitting the emotions that she kept under lock and key constantly just so that she could carry out her day to day life.

"If you didn't have your panic attack disorder where would you travel to first?" the question was a bit out of the blue but he wanted to know. There was still such mystery to the red head that intrigued him so much.

Bella considered the question carefully. She stuck her tongue out as she concentrated on her thoughts, something that Smokescreen observed and loved "I'd follow the sun as it set on the horizon and keep going" Bella folded up her arms by the open window and rested her chin on it as she stared off into the dark horizon "nothing could stop me then".

"So…west then" the air filled with her small giggle at the way the young autobot blankly put it.

She sat up and stared at the dashboard. It flickered as he spoke to her "you can't just think of it as a direction, Smoke. You have to look at it as a calling"

It wasn't long before they finally arrived in Jasper and within small moments her home. She waited till Smokescreen opened her door again to leave but she didn't go inside. Instead she stood in front of the Indy 500 now parked on her driveway. "So as my guardian does that mean you have to keep watch of me while I'm home?"

"Unless I get a call from Optimus, I'm not going anywhere" his voice was very reassuring and relaxing.

She took a quickly glance over her shoulder to her empty house and sighed. The time she had spent with the rookie was at times terrifying but she was becoming accustomed to his presence. The idea of returning to her solitude, of being alone wasn't inviting anymore. There was something about Smokescreen that called her to him and it wasn't the fact that he was an alien robot. It was something more than that. "Did you wanna come in for a while?" she was waiting for the rookie to joke that he was too big to fit in her house but he didn't. Instead he activated his holoform behind her by her front door. He opened it swiftly and waited for her to enter first seeing as it was her home. She couldn't help the grin that formed on her lips when she passed him. Her heart almost singing aloud as she did.

"So bit of a weird question: do you want something to eat or drink? I'm presuming your holoform can consume food and drink" she blushed a little feeling as though she should know the answer.

Smokescreen quickly made himself comfortable on her sofa. The cushions sinking down to help relax him "my coding for the holoform is the original so it can consume human food and drink and turn that into the energon I need". And Bella thought that he couldn't do anything more to surprise her. His tech was already outstanding but now it blew her mind. She remained silent in astonishment but raised an eye as she still awaited an answer to her question. "Oh er…I'm good at the moment thanks" he began to rub the back of his head as he leaned back into the sofa.

She promptly excused herself and disappeared upstairs to change into something she felt more comfortable to slouch around in.

While she was doing that Smokescreen allowed himself unwind. The day's events having taken a toll on him too. Cybertronians didn't need as much rest as humans did but they did need to power down and enter stasis every now and then. He didn't particularly like being in his holoform that much but he did like some things that he could experience over being in his true form. For instance he loved being inside Bella's home. He could smell the scent of lavender and mint chocolate in the house which is what Bella often smelled like. It was sweet and alluring. The place was warm and inviting, almost made him feel at home. Then there was the painting in the centre of the living room of him in both his forms. It was a real ego booster for him. He had the knowledge that Bella loved to paint places she wanted to travel to, locations that she could only dream of seeing. And here she was painting him instead of another marvellous landscape. It boggled his mind a little, but there was one thing that made him not mind using his holoform and that was Isabella herself. He wouldn't have been able to interact with her as much as he could now. He liked being able to touch her more closely, being able to hug her and offer comfort in a way that his bi-pedal form could not.

The rookie hadn't failed to notice that the more time he spent with the red head the more he felt a connection with her. It was more than a guardian-charge bond. He felt quite close to her and yet there was still so much he wanted to learn about her. But with time that wouldn't be an issue he hoped. His processor pondered if he could give Bella the one thing that she desired. With Ratchets permission he could use the ground bridge to let Bella see all the places she wants to on the planet. As her guardian he would have to accompany which meant that she wouldn't have to worry about having a panic attack while being all alone. The dangers wouldn't matter so long as he was around to protect her. That was a vow he made even before Optimus officially assigned him to her.

"I gather that my life is never going to be the same again but you know I don't think I'd have it any other way" Isabella's voice cut Smokescreen out of his thoughts as he paid attention to the red headed woman. She re-entered the room wearing a pair of light grey tracksuit bottoms and a purple strappy top. He watched her collapse next to his on the sofa and instantly noticed the light bruises on her arms. Guilt flooded him that he couldn't completely protect her which only urged him to try even harder for the future. "Thank you for saving my life, Smoke" Isabella's voice moved down to a whisper as she leant back, her head resting of the soft headrest of the furniture. Her eyes becoming heavy.

The rookie would happily admit he liked the sound of his nickname rolling off of her tongue. The both of them were really susceptible to sleep at the current moment. "Can I ask you something?" Bella wanted to rest properly but there was still something on her mind that she wanted to settle now that they were alone.

"You can talk to me about anything" Bella didn't miss the softness in the rookie's voice as the two of them made and maintained eye contact.

She smiled as she considered the wording that she would use. There was also the issue that it was mainly on Smokescreens part to talk and not hers on this topic "what did you mean earlier when you said you were attracted by my voice?"

Smokescreen awaken slightly, his blue eyes widening at the discussion that was beginning to take place. However, he was thankful that the two of them were alone. Bella's emerald gaze watched as his cheeks flushed red. "Oh, that…"

"We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to" the woman looked down feeling a little disappointed when she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder. She looked back up to see how soft his facial expression was.

"I want to" the young autobot allowed Bella to sit back again as she waited for what he had to say "when we unofficially met Jack was teaching me about human traffic laws. We were quite a distance away from you when I heard you singing and I can't exactly describe it but…" he looked into her soul and saw how innocence she possessed. He didn't want to seem creepy in front of her but he didn't want to have to lie to her either. "But I felt the need to follow your voice. Took quite a few turns down the streets but I felt some sort of relief and infatuation when I found you. Your singing was none other than perfect; it had ring to it that felt like it was putting me in a trance. Like I was under your spell."

Just as he finished speaking his audio receptors picked up on her small chuckle and then warmth. He looked down to see her hand on top of his "I promise you I'm not a witch and I can't cast spells but I do appreciate the compliment. I don't often sing in public like that. I am surprised you could hear me from that far away though"

"Jack thought I was going mad at the time. I don't know why but I had to find you" he actually felt ashamed to admit it aloud to her and Bella could easily see this. In turn it made her feel bad that Smokescreen felt like he couldn't discuss this with her.

Bella couldn't control her next actions and she didn't want to knowing exactly what she was going to do. It brought a slight skip to her heart rate. Turning a bit more so that she faced his holoform Bella leaned forward and pressed her small plump lips to his cheek. She felt the warmth in his artificial skin and didn't want to back away but did anyway as she clutched on to his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze "I'm glad you did" she smiled as she felt Smokescreen interlace his fingers with hers and return the reassuring squeeze. "You know you can talk to me about anything as well, right?"

"Of course" Bella could hear how tired Smokescreen was as well. It seemed to creepy up on the both of them and before she could say anything else she saw Smokescreens eyes were closed and his breathing had softened. The side of her mouth twinged up a little at the peaceful sight before her. She would have thought that he would have shut off the hologram of himself to rest but he didn't. Instead he remained with her so that she wouldn't be alone even as the two of them chose to rest.

Reaching behind her Bella grasped on to the soft material of a blanket that she kept hanging on the back. She used what energy she had left to shake it out and then lay it over both herself and Smokescreen. She felt a sudden warmth engulf her frame as she let it soak into her. Her eyes drifting shut and a calming breath being released as her mind suddenly drifted away into a welcomed slumber.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-dream-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

_**Isabella giggled as she dipped her feet in the fresh water of the river, the cold temperature of the liquid not bothering her one bit as her focus was elsewhere. The forest surrounding the small cleared area that she was in rustling and swaying in the wind as it blew without a care in the world. Bella didn't feel the chill of it though, the sun's rays warmed her skin completely that the wind and cooling water was refreshing. The greenery around her blossomed in the absence of human activities. And as she closed her eyes all she could hear was pure silence; there was no traffic, no car alarms or angered people just the peaceful sound of the natural world around her. **_

_**The native birds singing to each other in the tree tops and the flow of the water trying to push past her and down the stream, the whole area was a lush green that made her sigh out in content. Bella was completely in the middle of nowhere. Here there was no disturbance, here Bella would gladly live a peaceful life where she knew she would be happy. Where no humans would ruin it all with their modern lifestyle and technology.**_

_**It did sadden her that very few people saw the world as she did and envisioned people living the way they should though many would call it a 'primitive' way of life. As Bella was going to the bank of the river to sit and allow her feet to soak in the clean water she heard a loud splash behind her but before she could glance that way a shower of river water rained down covering her completely so that she was drenched-not that she minded. Her eyes searched for the culprit and soon found him.**_

_**Somehow she wasn't surprised to see the holoform of the young autobot standing with her in the water, a cheeky grin plastered all over his face as his hands where dripping from where he had pushed the water at her to soak her. She reacted quickly bending down and swiping her arms up to splash back at him, he tried to shield himself but there was no doing that as his entire form got wet. Both of them laughed aloud filling the air. He then tried to return fire but she didn't let him as Bella ran and jumped at him. Seeing this Smokescreens arms opened up to catch her but the impact made them both fall back into the river, the river flow washing over them as they continued to laugh in the fun they were having together.**_

_**The water flow now trying to force its way passed them. This only soaked their forms even more as Bella lay atop Smokescreen laughing down at him while he laughed up at her. His arms wrapped around her waist and back to hold her closer to him as if he feared she may leave him. The fun the two of them were having was just another in a long line of memories of things they had done together and would come to do together in the future. **_

_**As they were calming down, Smokescreen released his hold on Bella to allow her stand up. When she had done so she stretched her hand out to help him up which he gracefully took. In the hope of not disturbing the environment too much the two of them swiftly climbed out of the river and moved towards where Smokescreens true form sat as an Indy 500. Their fingers laced together as their hands swung forward and back while they walked as though it was an everyday occurrence for them. **_

_**Bella couldn't quite express the amount of happiness that she felt. Her heart beating so hard that it felt normal. As soon as the two of them reached the sports car Bella let out a squeak as she was carefully pushed against the bonnet of the vehicle with a weight pushing down on her front. She giggled seeing the smug face of her favourite rookie above her. The gap between them slowly closing in and she didn't try to stop it. This was something that she desired dearly and gladly gave into. **_

_**Closing her emerald green eyes she felt the intense heat of Smokescreens lips upon her own. The passion she felt in that moment was overwhelming as she pushed her lips firmly to hers as much as she could. The feeling of Smokes hand on her waist and gliding upwards taking her top with it made her moan into his mouth at the pleasure she was currently experiencing. Her own hands reaching up and grasping tightly onto his hair which made him moan into her as well. She could tell where this was going and she wanted it. The heat was driving her crazy making her lust for him grow. **_

_**Eventually they both broke the kiss that they shared, knowing that breathing was an important part of staying alive. They stared loving into each other's eyes as the two of them could feel the others breathe upon their face. Breathing each other in as if life absolutely depended on it. "Smokescreen" Bella's voice was soft and quiet showing her seductive side.**_

_"**Bells" the nickname he called her by wasn't one she was used to but she loved it when he said it. Her heart practically jumping within her chest because of it. **_

_"**Smoke, I….I lo"**_


	8. Chapter 8: Downfall

**You'll never be alone again**

**Chapter 8: Downfall**

Smokescreens holoform eyes peeked open slightly as he was becoming more self-aware. The rest he had gotten no matter how big was enough to make him feel a little refreshed and ready for the day had to bring. He could tell that he had fallen into stasis on Bella's sofa. His body was slouched back against the back in a relaxing way, his right arm leaning on the arm of the sofa while his left arm was wrapped around something warm. He liked the feeling, it was comforting and gave him the desire to not move. But he decided to look down to get a better understanding of his surroundings.

The rookie could feel his spark humming louder at the sight of Bella leaning on him as she slept. Her head tucked into his chest and her arms clinging on to the fabric of his artificial clothes. She had a smile on her lips as she was dreaming of something that clearly brought her great happiness.

Seeing the fiery haired women so happy and peaceful made him happy in turn. He felt her snuggle closer to him and he liked it. The rookie tightened his hold on the woman and brought his other hand to her face. His thumb stroking lines down her cheek, feeling her soft skin beneath which only attracted him to carry on with his actions. When a few stray hairs fell down over face Smokescreen was quick to push them back behind her ear out of the way. He liked seeing her like this. Scratch that he liked being with her like this.

The feeling of his spark calling out to her was one that made him feel like he could do anything he put his mind to. It even ached when he wasn't around her like there was something missing in his life. The more he thought about the more the young autobot cam to understand this feeling that came from deep within. He didn't want to live without Bella in his life – perhaps this was the reason he felt like he had to follow her voice to begin with. His mind processed everything about Bella and each part seemed like perfection to him.

Her soothing voice that he could listen to for hours on end, the cuteness of her laugh that held a nice ring to it. Her eyes; he had never seen some that he made him feel so at home and lost within when he gazed into them. Her hair reminding him of her fiery nature when she wanted to be. He noticed that the more he maintained contact with him, as he stroked her cheek, the more she seemed to melt into his touch. Her head leaning into his hand a bit more which made him chuckle slightly. But he was careful. Even though it was morning he didn't want to wake her just yet.

Considering the day they had previously Bella deserved to have some extra hours sleeping in. If his guardian duty was going to be like this the majority of the time he was going to love it.

His thoughts was cut short when he heard a few clicks within his processor. Immediately Smokescreen knew that he was receiving an incoming communication link and as much as he didn't want to answer it to preserve the moment he knew it was his duty as an autobot to do so. His holoform suddenly became distant as he focussing on responding to the communication. "Smokescreen come in. Where are you?" it was Ratchet's voice on the other end.

"Smokescreen receiving, I'm on guardian duty watching over Bella"

Ratchet sighed on the other end. Smokescreen hadn't been around that long but he could tell that the old medic liked the humans but sometimes felt that their involvement distracted them too much from their primary mission. "Some things come up we need the whole team at the base immediately"

There was no way Smokescreen could ignore it now "Understood. I'm leaving now; bridge me back to base when I'm outside Jasper. Smokescreen out" now he was clearly showing his initiative.

Though it would be faster to Ground Bridge the young autobot base to base from his current position it would be reckless as well. It was now morning when people would be out and about and would most likely see the portal opening and closing in front of them. The smartest move would be for him to leave the town as quickly as he could and then bridge back.

He had informed Ratchet that he was leaving so he knew he had to leave pretty quickly even though he wanted to stay. He looked down to Bella again and watched as she shifted into him a bit more. He gave a soft smile as he tried to get up but Bella was leaning on him too much. So instead the rookie shifted to the side and placed an arm around her back and the other under her knees before lifted her up as he stood. It took a moment for Smokescreen to find the strength he needed in order to support his weight and Bella's, considering he just woke up.

When he was ready Smokescreen gently carried Bella through her house. He was careful not to trip on the canvasses used or not that were lying around everywhere. Some would say that it was clutter but Smokescreen didn't see it that way. It was Bella's home and it only gave the house character. Moving with precision up the stairs the rookie located Isabella's bedroom which was surprisingly tidy. The only used canvasses in there were ones that Bella had personally chosen and hung on her walls for decoration. He laid Bella down on her king sized bed and covered her over with another blanket that hung at the bottom of her bed. He watched as Bella seemed a bit reluctant to let go of him but she soon snuggled into the warmth of her familiar bed. When she looked well looked after Smokescreen felt guilty but he knew that he had responsibilities; deactivating his holoform his consciousness returned to his true form and he quickly reversed back onto the road and headed for the desert.

Smokescreen could only hope that he wouldn't be kept long from Bella. As much as he seemed care free before, he loved his duty to protect Bella. He wished he had time to tell Bella where he was going and that he would be back but even he didn't know that.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

A couple of hours later Isabella began to awaken. Her eyes droopily opened and closed for a few moments as her mind was trying to wake up with her body. She hugged the blanket closer to her, feeling the warmth that it engulfed her with.

As she began to properly awaken she noticed that she was alone and had somehow made it to the soft confines of her bed. "How?" she questioned but when she didn't see Smokescreen she figured he must have taken her to her bedroom. Getting herself up she quickly exited her bedroom in the hope of finding the rookie in the living room still "Smokescreen?" she called out his name but didn't get a response in return. Deciding to check outside she moved to the closest window that had a view of the front of her house. Her eyes immediately found the empty spot on her driveway and her heart sunk. But she knew it wasn't Smokescreens fault. He had told her before that he would have to go if he was called.

She thought back to the previous day's events and knew that she didn't want a repeat of that. Not yet anyway. She hadn't worked properly for a few days so she came to a quick decision to work on the design for a children's toy that she been asked to come up with. But first she wanted to wake up properly so she didn't hesitate to wash herself up. This time the water raining down on her was warm instead of the cold sprinkler system. She giggled at the memory of unexpectedly getting wet even though it was heart breaking to know that the future of Smokescreens home planet was in enemy hands.

Her mind then pondered to the dream that had somehow occurred during her slumber last night. She grew a little disappointed knowing that it wasn't real. Smokescreen would never look at her the way he had in her subconscious, she had to face it. The majority of what happened would never truly occur between them. She wasn't even sure if the feelings that she seemed to show in her dream world were ones that she reciprocated in the real world. Surely the kiss Smokescreen and herself shared wasn't something that could ever happen. It just showed that she cared for the rookie as a close friend.

The thoughts were only hurting her now as she continued to confuse her true feelings with the meanings behind her subconscious dreams. She allowed herself to change after her refreshing shower before sitting at her dining room table with all her design ideas. She stuck her head down into her papers as she read through the brief she had been given from the company with the criteria that it all required.

One sheet of paper in front of her was dedicated to the overall shape that it needed to be while another was where she needed to design the packaging for the product.

Bella worked tirelessly for a few hours taking small breaks to make sure she ate and drank and didn't go stir crazy from over doing it. She had received a message from Smokescreen apologising to her for leaving without saying anything and she had tried her best in trying to reassure him that she understood his duty as an autobot to the team. It wasn't long after that when her alarm went off reminding her to take her daily medication. She considered taking an extra dose to make up for missing the previous days but she went against it knowing the dangers it can cause.

Bella concentrated way into the afternoon until she was gladly done and emailed her work off awaiting approval or a reply with whatever criticism that the company had to give her. That was when she decided to be done for the day and take a walk. When she had left her home there was a slight a hope inside of the red head that she would find Smokescreen on patrol or something so she could hang around with him.

There was no such luck there though she didn't seem him or any of the other autobots but that didn't mean that she wasn't enjoying the break she was having from working. She wished there was a more remote area instead of the town she could stroll through like the landscapes in her paintings. She wasn't really paying attention to where she was walking as her mind began to ponder more and more about the things that only confused her. "Hey Bella" a loud voice distracted her from her thoughts as she followed the voice to where she saw Miko waving at her. Jack and Raf were behind her as the three teenagers stood in front of their school.

The school was practically in the middle of the town. She had walked quite a distance from her home. She smiled seeing them but felt bad knowing that they were waiting for a ride from their guardians to the autobot base. Considering she hadn't heard from Smokescreen since earlier she knew that Team Prime must be quite occupied. "How was school?" she asked as she moved over to the awaiting teens.

"Boring" Miko put it so plainly for them to understand while she emphasised the 'R' in the word.

Isabella already knew however. She remembered what it was like attending school every day and finding little joy in it. "Don't worry, Miko. You get rewarded by finding a job that you love by the end of it"

Miko thought for a moment. She had never considered her future job; she loved music perhaps she'd form her own band. "What if I don't find a job I love" the others couldn't believe Miko was actually asking for future advice.

Bella chuckled and placed a reassuring hand on the young girls shoulder "don't worry, not everyone does. It just means that you just gotta find your place in the world"

"So have you heard from the autobots today? Our rides didn't show" Jack stepped forward breaking up the chat.

Bella's thoughts went to the bots who were probably looking for the Omega Keys that they so desperately needed to restore their home planet. "Sorry guys. Last I heard they were trying to find a way to Cybertron to stop the decepticons from wreaking havoc" the red head watched as the three teens faces fell a little upset. They wanted to help so badly; it was so clearly written all over their faces. But there was more to it. The kids were scared that their friends would leave them soon. Bella knew the feeling. She feared she'd lose Smokescreen once it was all over. "Come on, I'll take you guys for something to eat"

They didn't complain and happily followed her towards the nearest fast food restaurant to them. Though they still had to walk a few blocks to get there. "It feels like the autobots don't tell us anything anymore" Raf stated as they walked together.

"Yeah, it's not fair. We've helped them so many times. We deserve to be kept in the loop" Miko huffed aloud.

Bella wouldn't admit she felt sort of the same way even though she hadn't known the bots very long "It's their war remember, not yours or anyone else's. They have a chance to save their home so don't you guys think that it's more important for them to concentrate on that then play child minders"

"But we're not children" Miko practically shouted at the top of her voice.

Bella remained calm and used a warning tone in her voice "Miko"

"Sorry" she apologised quickly knowing that she was letting her anger get the better of her.

They remained silent for a while as they walked. Passing through a couple of alley ways in order to take a short cut to the restaurant. Bella considered that talking to the teens might be a good way to understand everything that was going on. There was so many feelings that she had locked away in her own emotional jar that she didn't feel were relevant to be spoken about with anyone. She felt as though they were her problem to deal with and nobody else's. But then again Jack, Miko and Raf had known the autobots a lot longer than she has. She opened her mouth to say something as she walked in front of them but no words came out. She remained silent as ever.

A frown then formed on Bella's face when she recognised a dark purplish car parked ahead of them at the exit to the alleyway. The hair on the back of her neck stood as she remembered that day. When Smokescreen had saved her from almost being killed by the decepticons. She stopped walking and so did the teenagers behind her as they gave a puzzled look. She could hear them talking but to her it was all murmurs as she had complete focus on the vehicon trooper in disguise not far away from them. Her thought then began to betray her as she tried to come up with a way of getting to safety. Her heart beginning to thump a little louder now as she was struggling to keep calm.

"Bella what's wrong?" Jacks voice finally got through to her and she flinched away as he tried to comfort her.

Her emerald gaze met his and he saw the fear within them. The kids. She had to make sure they made it out of this okay. "Back up slowly" she whispered to them as she kept her gaze on the decepticon fearing he would move if she didn't watch him.

The three school kids did as she asked while following where she was looking and each either gulped of gasped knowing they were in a sticky situation. "We gotta call Ratchet" Raf suggested quite quickly.

"He would never get here in time and probably has more important things to do" Bella searched in the corners of her eyes as she took careful steps back "Okay, when I tell you to you three run as fast as you can and you don't look back until you know you are safe"

She wouldn't let them argue as they pivoted on the spot and began to walk back the way they came. They didn't get far though. Each of their eyes started from the bottom and worked their way up when they saw a familiar seeker standing their watching them with a devilish smirk upon his faceplates. "Well, well, well. Look what we have here. Four vulnerable and pathetic humans with no autobots to protect you" his voice was rough and grim.

By now they caught the sound of vehicon transforming and slowly making his way towards them. Oh yeah this was an ambush. Bella could feel herself trembling but she wouldn't let herself have a panic attack now. Doing so would be handing herself over to them. A figurative light bulb then shone above her head and before she could think things over she stood forward staring into Starscream red optics as even he took an intimidating stop towards them. "They are just kids. Let them go and I will graciously go with you as your prisoner"

Again he stalked forward which only made the humans take a precautious step back. Unfortunately they were cornered, in doing so it brought the vehicon trooper behind them just closer to them "why bargain for one when I can have you all?" the so called second in command of the decepticons stretched out his servos revealing the sharpness of his digits.

It was plain to see he was threatening them but Bella was smart "Because I'm the only one that knows the autobots current plan" this didn't seem to stop Starscream from approaching. He wasn't buying into her lies "I'm the only one that knows the location and function of their secret weapon" she spoke more confidently now which seemed to fool the seeker.

He was then thinking "they have become more ruthless now. Valuable intel like that would prove to Lord Megatron that I am truly to devoted to him"

"Seriously this guy has got to stop talking to himself in front of people" Miko spoke out what everyone was thinking but it only angered Starscream.

He stomped his foot down hard scaring them as the tarmac beneath them crumbled. "Silence! You humans are weak" his blood red optics scanned each of them but then landed on Bella which made her skin crawl "if what you say is the truth then tell me where is the autobot base?" She was hoping he wouldn't bring that up. Immediately Bella was aware that this was a test. She had been lying before and this was to see if she would really betray the autobots. She needed a better plan but she didn't have the time to think of one. Starscream was growing impatient at the silence as he leaned down so his face was practically all she could see. She didn't realise she was being timed either when Starscream motioned for the vehicon to come and take the teenagers with his hand. "I knew you would never betray them"

In a quick panic Bella looked over her shoulder to see the vehicon reaching for Raf and Jack. She pushed them out of the way of the vehicons swipe and pointed between the vehicons feet "run!" they didn't question her as they legged it through the gap avoiding being caught. Isabella remained however. She eyes a metal pipe to the side and didn't hesitate to pick it up and throw it at the vehicon to distract him. There was a metallic clang when it did and the decepticon was confused as to who he should go after.

Starscream growled in annoyance as she watched Jack, Raf and Miko run as fast as their legs could carry them down the alley and round the corner out of view. In an attempt to come away with something he made a dash at Bella but she acted on instinct and rolled to the side before running through his legs as she tried to reach for her. The seeker clenched his fists "get those humans now!" he pointed to where the teens had run off to and the vehicon didn't question him. "Clever but not clever enough" he grumbled as he eyed Isabella's fleeing form. He wouldn't allow her to run into the open; raising his arm he aimed and fired one of his rockets at the building in front of her.

There was a small shriek as Bell ducked at the whizzing sound that frightened her as it went by. But then it felt like she was walking down memory lane again when the small building exploded and rubble began to fall. She tried to move out of the way but a piece managed to hit her on her shoulder. The resulting effect made her fall to the ground in pain. The red head let out a groan before picking herself up now wanting to get caught "you've wasted enough of my time". Bella almost forgot how to breathe when she heard his voice not too far away from her. She went to start running away again but felt something hard swipe at her right side making her slam into the wall on her left and fall to the ground.

She felt her whole body throb from the impact and then something warm trickling down the side of her head. Her eyes felt heavy and the world began to spin in her perspective as she tried to get up again. Her muscles gave out on her though. Everything hurt, the darkness began to close in on her when she heard the faint cried of Jack, Raf and Miko calling out to her in fear.

Starscream followed the voice to where he saw each of the humans struggling to get free from the vehicons tight grip. The raven haired boy tearing up as each of them were calling out to the older woman. Raising an optics ridge he looked down at the female below him and heard her let out an exhausted breath followed by "Smokescreen" it was barely audible but it made the seeker laugh as it was her last call out for help before she fell unconscious.

"So the new recruit is your guardian. It would be such a shame for him to see you suffer" the horrible thoughts that entered his processor were too gruesome to even mention. Reaching up Starscream opened a communication link to the warship Nemesis "Soundwave, we require a bridge" within a second the familiar portal opened for them and the vehicon didn't need to be told to go through it with his prisoners. The seeker on the other hand reached down and picked Bella up not too gently. He tried to avoid getting any of her blood on him as it dripped down from her head, which he only smirked at, before entering the bridge and soon materialising back onto the Nemesis.

He found it entertaining watching the teenagers getting put into special glass canisters that Knock Out had quickly built. They each put up a good fight but of course it was futile. When another vehicon trooper approached him with the last glass canister he swiftly dropped Bella inside; listening to the thump of her form as it made contact with the bottom. He chuckled as he waited patiently for when Megatron expected them to appear. "Ready the space bridge for Cybertron" he commanded and the troopers on the bridge of the warship acted quickly to follow out orders. How he missed this when he was alone. Being high up in the chain of command and respected by those he view as insignificant to himself.

The seeker paced side to side as he waited. Knock Out stood over Miko while Soundwave stood over Raf. Each of the humans tried kicking the glass except for Bella. Jack silently watched her as his canister was stood next to hers. He wished he could do something to help but he was absolutely powerless at the current moment. Only the autobots could help her now.

After a few more long moments of silence where time seemed to pass by so slowly. And Jack worried the more time that passed the more Bella's condition would worsen without medical help. He let out a gaps though when he saw a space bridge open directly in front of them all and Starscream quickly moved to pick up Jacks canister and Bella's.

He didn't handle them with care at all. In fact it seemed as though he was trying his very best to hurt them, well he had already done that with Bella. So he was probably trying to kill her at this point.

When they had gone through the space bridge each of them widened their eyes at the sight of Cybertron. Jack had already been to the planet but this was a different part. The area where the restoration of the planet could take place at the Omega Lock. He looked to each of the autobots and could see the horror on their faceplates.

However, Smokescreens face was one not to be messed with. Arcee had placed her armoured servo on his shoulder as he ground his denta together. His fists clenched together and shaking viciously as he shifted his hateful eyes from Starscream to the unmoving Isabella entrapped in the canister. The glass canister being the only thing that was keeping each of the humans alive at that moment from Cybertrons toxic air.

The emotions that the rookie was feeling at that current moment were ones that even he couldn't supress. Anger and hate were some really dominant ones when he looked to Starscream, who only smirked at him. But when he looked at the red headed female he felt extreme guilt. His electric blue optics were turning paler by the moment at the rage was beginning to take over. He feared that soon no one would be able to hold him back from acting upon his inner thoughts of attack each of the decepticons and tearing them limb from limb. The young autobot even had to remind himself that it wasn't just Bella that was in danger. Jack, Miko and Raf had been captured as well but at least they were conscious.

He could see what Megatron had planned. He wanted the Omega Keys that they had managed to take from him in exchange for their human friends. Smokescreen couldn't describe the feeling he had in his spark chamber at that moment. He could barely feel it pulsing within him at seeing his charge so hurt. He could see the blood on her head and hoped that it had dried and wasn't fresh. All he knew was that his charge needed to get to a hospital and soon.

As much as the rookie didn't want to disappoint the others he didn't need to think about exchanging the keys for the human's lives. As much as he didn't want to hand his planet's fate over to the warlord he didn't care for it as much as he cared for Isabella right now. The fear for her life was building up within him that it was going to consume him soon the more he just stared and waited for something to happen.

The look on the gladiators face was one of expectation and victory. Megatron already knew what Optimus was going to do at this point. The Prime frowned not quite believing the lengths that Megatron was now going to. He was taking it too far now and Optimus only blamed himself for not finishing Megatron off sooner. Each of the autobots looked to their charges with desperation. Miko tried kicking on the glass again in a failed attempt to try an escape even though if she did she would die from Cybertrons atmosphere. The autobots remained silent while Megatron was growing ever more impatient. He turned to his second in command in expectation "Starscream!"

The seeker immediately knew how to encourage the autobots to act. The stilettoed decepticon lifted the canister with Jack inside and began toying with him. "Jack…it's time to come out and play" he placed a sharp digit on the glass and dragged it down resulting in an excruciating sound that made Jack almost cling to his ears cringing.

"Go ahead. The autobots were prepared to sacrifice themselves for my planet, I'll do the same for theirs" the raven haired boy spoke without fear. His eyes glaring at the seeker as if daring him to kill him. In his logic it was better that three humans died rather than the whole planet.

Miko and Raf followed his example of bravery "me too, creepy" Miko spoke to Knock Out who wasn't opposed to just killing them. Raf only stared up at Soundwave wondering if the silent mech was staring down at him as well.

"Perhaps we should oblige them" Megatrons gruff voice showed only his happiness in going through with killing the humans that the autobots cared so much for.

When Optimus disengaged his fighting stance Megatron already knew he had won. The Prime already realised what needed to be done "if my decision dooms the autobot cause on Cybertron then so be it, but I will never forsake our human allies" when he had finished his sentence Optimus swung his Star Sabre down into the ground releasing it and backing away. He showed himself as defenceless now as he gave up his weapon to show he wasn't going to attack.

He stepped back to stand with the others who only stared at him before following his lead. They too didn't want anything to happen to their human allies. One by one they disarmed their weapons and threw them down by the Star Sabre, out of their reach. It only made Megatron look all so mighty pleased with himself.

Smokescreens anger didn't go unnoticed by the warlord. His optics looking to where the rookie concentrated on the unconscious female. The young bots anger was growing even more by the second. He felt completely helpless to save Isabella, the felling in his spark of the red headed woman growing to something that he didn't quite understand. He felt a lot more attached to Bella then Bulkhead, Arcee or Bumblebee seemed attached to their charges. Right at that moment all Smokescreen wanted was for Bella to be awake and to hear her voice. The ring in her laugh currently echoing in his audio receptors. Even though it was a figure of his imagination. "Now if you please, the Omega Keys" Megatron lifted a servo as if asking the autobots to hand them directly to him "one at a time" Knock Out was the first to lift the canister with Miko inside and move forward.

Megatron watched as the exchange took place in front of him. "You first big boy" Knock Out signalled for Bulkhead to come forward and exchange the Omega Key he held for Miko. The green autobot didn't move just yet. He looked to the relic he was holding and then to Optimus for guidance. The former wrecker wanted Miko back safe and sound but he didn't necessarily want to give over the Omega Key either. His leader looked to him and nodded right before Bulkhead made his way over towards Knock Out. He stepped carefully just in case the decepticons decided to trick them as they normally like to do. It seemed very con of them to do something like that and knowing Megatron he would only do it to gain more leverage. As Bulkhead approached the vain decepticon medic he spoke worriedly "if I don't get the girl, I'm going to make you eat this key". Bulkhead violently shook with anger as he practically threw the Omega Key into Knock Out's servo.

Knock Out handed the canister with Miko inside over to the green autobot and watched as he turned to return to the team "you're welcome" the medic smirked as he too walked back towards Megatron with the key in hand.

Bulkhead held on to Miko's canister as tightly as he could without damaging it "get scrapped" Miko shouted back to the medic. Even before they returned to the autobots Bumblebee had already began to move forward with his Omega Key to meet Soundwave who held Raf in his capsule. The young scout gave the boy a soft look. But that changed quickly when he eyed the blank face of the decepticon communications chief. His face hardened and communicated quite clearly his anger towards the situation as he handed over his key. Taking Raf in return and going back towards where Optimus stood.

Arcee and Smokescreen were the only two left now with their Omega Keys. This got them both worried as they saw Starscream move forward and place both canister down on each side of him. Jack on his right and Bella on his left. Both the femme and mech looked to each other before they proceeded to move forward. Megatron eyes the rookie and the unconscious human with interest he could see something else was going on there; Optimus watched Megatron carefully as he saw this too. "I suggest you hurry, Optimus. The female will soon lose its value" Megatron pointed to Bella's conscious form lying in one of the canisters. A bruise on her face quite visible now. Smokescreen hate to admit it but the gladiator had a point. They still had no knowledge of the extent of her injuries and time could be running short for them.

Gritting his denta together Smokescreen let out an enraged growl. The rookie didn't waste time waiting for Optimus to tell him to go, instead he moved quickly with Arcee following closely behind.

"No tricks" Starscream raised his arms forward showing that he was ready to fire at them should anything happen. Though the autobots had a bit more of a reason to be sceptical. As soon as Smokescreen and Arcee were in front of the seeker he turned his arms over wanting the keys placed into his servos. "They keys, if you please". Arcee carefully placed the key she was holding into one of his servos whereas Smokescreen almost smacked the key into his grasp.

Both Smokescreen and Arcee picked up their capsules with their humans friends inside. Before they could turn away and move back to their team Starscream decided to have a little fun. "You protect such weak creatures" Starscream turned his gaze to glare directly at Smokescreen "try to protect anyway. Your stupid human got in my way and where were you hmm?" the seeker pointed an accusing digit at him as he mocked the younger bot "where were you when I swatted her pathetic body into the wall like a bug?" the more Starscream talked the more Smokescreen grew angry. His fists clenched so hard that he was damaging the handle to the canister he was holding. "Where were you when she called out your name before she fell unconscious" the rookie growled aloud his whole frame shaking. He almost lost it completely and attacked the seeker but Arcee grabbed onto his arm and began pulling him away with Bella as well.

Smokescreen's concern for Bella had gone well beyond what it had before. As he observed her still body he could see that her skin had grown pale and had a lot of scratches from where Starscream attacked her. He hugged the capsule close to his chest plates for extra protection as though he feared to lose her. Both Arcee and Smokescreen returned to Optimus's side with their humans. Their immediate thoughts were to open a space bridge to that they could be returned to the safety of Earth. As well as, taking Bella to a hospital.

As much as those thoughts would have been lovely to turn into a reality a decepticon space bridge opened up behind them and an armada of vehicon troopers ran through it encircling them so that they couldn't do anything but watch as Megatrons plans occurred right in front of them. "Now bare witness as a new era dawns on Cybertron" the warlord took one of the keys from Starscream and placed it in to the Omega Lock while his loyal followers did the same one by one. The entire area around the cons lighting up with life like the planet hadn't seen in eons "behold; the age of the decepticons"

Smokescreen tried to zone out what was going on around him as he kneeled down and placed the glass canister down. His hand went to immediately rest on the glass "Bells…" he so wanted her to wake up in that moment and place her own hand on the glass just to let him know she was okay. He wanted to talk to her so bad like he used to. When all she wanted was to just listen to him and help him with whatever was frustrating him that day. "It's me, Bells. I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you. This never should have happened to you but I promise I am going to get you back and get you some help" he spoke so no one else could hear him. His voice sounding so upset and vulnerable. His main focus for now was getting everyone out alive so he could take Isabella to the hospital. If it wasn't already too late.

Smokescreens attention quickly went from Bella to what was going on around them as he heard the sound of the Omega Lock powering up. It began to glow and get brighter the more time it had to build up its power. Smokescreen stood back on his feet and placed himself between Bella and the decepticons that would hurt her.

Megatron activated the Lock, his optics narrowed as he concentrated on bending its capabilities to fit his purpose. A huge beam of energy shot right at the nearest wrecked building. Scrap pieces of metal around the building beginning to light up with the same energy as the Lock. Whereas other pieces of metal began to float up into the air and fix themselves onto the structure making it newer and bigger. When the light died down everyone looked to see a brand new building that looked shiny and completely untouched. It was as if the war for Cybertron never even went near it. The sight was mind-blowing to them all at the capabilities that the Omega Lock possessed. When they learned that their planet had a chance to be restored none of them could have imagined the raw power that this would display.

Optimus didn't like what was happening before him. This was something he was trying to avoid from the very beginning; allowing Megatron to get his servos on such a dangerous artefact. "You have what you want, megatron. This conflict is between autobots and decepticons. Allow me to return the humans to Earth" it was clear from the look Megatron gave them that that was never going to happen. The warlord decided to remain ignorant of the fact that Isabella desparately needed to seek medical attention but then again it was fitting of him not care at all about the situation. He was after all the master of the decepticons.

Megatron chuckled "I wouldn't recommend it. They'll be far safer here" that only meant that Megatron had something in mind for Earth and it was promised to be bad. "Is the space bridge locked on target" the gladiator turned to his side where his second in command stood awaiting orders.

Starscream bowed respectfully to his leader as he replied instantly "per your instructions, Lord Megatron" he acted like such a suck up at that moment.

Megatrons optics lit up at the news "excellent. Why rule only one world when I can rule two" just when he finished his sentence a space bridge opened directly above the Omega Lock just as Megatron activated it once again. The beam of intense energy shooting through it which only blinded those that tried to look at the concentrated energy.

"If the Omega Lock can restore Cybertron, it can do the same to Earth right?" Miko tried to look on the brighter side of all this, not that there was much of one currently.

Optimus already knew what was going to happen or what was currently happening to Earth "no. It will cyberform your planet in favour of its new matrix, destroying all indigenous life in the process" oh how the penny just dropped on the situation.

Earth wouldn't survive cyberforming, it would be completely destroyed when the process was complete. It wasn't long before Megatron began pondering over renaming Earth once it was completely cyberformed. This only upset Jack, Raf and Miko as they had to sit and watch as their planet was going to get torn apart. Each of them began to struggle within their capsules. Banging against the glass in utter despair of not being able to do something to stop this "leave our planet alone!"

Miko's plea obviously meant nothing to each of the decpeticons as they began to manically laugh at the victory before them. Optimus hated this; his optics focussed on the Omega Lock as it continued to shoot through its revival energy to Earth. It was an odd piece of technology, one he knew could only be stopped by deactivating it or destroying it. The Prime had vowed to protect Earth and even though he wanted to see his home restored again he couldn't live with the outcome of Cyberforming his current home. He looked to each of his human allies in turn – their desperation only fuelling him as well as the sight of one of them injured and unconscious. The autobot leader clenched his fists and didn't hesitate to act now. His decision was one he wished he didn't have to make but things were never that simple.

Drawing his blade out Optimus acted on complete protective instinct, swinging his deadly blade at decepticon drone right by him and kicking the vehcion away towards Knock Out to distract him. Permanently offlining the trooper. He then used all his energy in punching another decepticon and began to run towards his Star Sabre. Grabbing hold of it tightly and pulling it out of where he had slammed it into the ground. Using the energy that the Star Sabre emitted he swung the large blade horizontally and knocked down a round of other vehicons. All of this finally got Megatrons attention and he didn't waste time in grabing onto his own dark star sabre and charging at Optimus to stop him. Optimus was determined though; the two powerful blades clashed against each other as they tried to strike each other.

Optimus was too fast for Megatron though as Optimus went on the attack quickly. The blade slicing right through the gap between Megatrons shoulder plating and the servo he stole from another Primes corpse. Severing it off completely so he now only possessed one arm. The warlord groaned out aloud from the pain as he kneeled over and sparks flew off from his missing limb. A path was now cleared for Optimus as he continued to run right past Megatron towards the Omega Lock. Soundwave, Starscream and Knock Out then began shooting at the Prime with whatever they had to try and stop Optimus from interfering. He was experienced though and dodged every single one that was shot at him whether it was a blaster shot or a missile based shot. As Starscream fired another one of his rockets Optimus evaded and jumped up using the second in command as a step to jump up higher that he practically flew over the medic and the communications chief. Lifting the Star sabre above his head; Optimus swung the relic down as he fell back to the ground. Using the momentum to pierce through the metal of the Omega Lock which caused a shot circuit in the power.

An explosion blew them all to the ground while the other autobots did their best to shield their trapped human friends. Surrounding vehicon troopers were blown to pieces while others were seriously injured from outburst of explosive power. Optimus took the opportunity, where the decepticons were distracted, to re-join his team and hurriedly called Ratchet for a space bridge so they could retreat to safety.

Smokescreen was the first to grab Bella inside her capsule and run through the space bridge into the autobot base. The rookie's optics softened immediately when he knew that they were finally safe and he made sure to focus on Bella as the others materialised through and Ratchet began worrying about what had happened. "The children…what happened?" the old medic was blissfully unaware of everything that occurred but his face plates clearly showed that he was none too pleased that the decepticons had somehow turned the tides on them and their cause.

Each of the bots placed their human allies down and opened their glass prisons to free them. "Somebody say something" Ratchet was annoyed at this point at the silence that engulfed them all but Smokescreen wasn't interested in what was being said. He opened Bella's capsule and slowly lowered his servos into it, scooping up her body into his hands and lifting her out. He worried that if he moved too quickly then he would hurt the red head even more than she already was.

"Optimus destroyed the Omega Lock" Bulkhead was the brave one to tell Ratchet was had happened on their war ravished planet. Though the words he spoke sounded so exhausted and full of despair at the reality before. With the Omega Lock destroy their planet had no future.

Ratchet's optics widened and he almost fell once he processed what he heard "what? You did?" Ratchet was going to scold the Prime but Optimus didn't let him.

"What was necessary. There was no time for another prolonged battle, not with Earth in imminent danger and Isabella injured" as much as Optimus didn't regret his decision to save Earth he did the others pain in his choice. He had to explain that he was put into a no win situation and stood by his decision even now that he has time to think it through.

Ratchet took a quick gaze over to Bella in Smokescreens servos seeing what he meant before growing angry again "so you destroyed the only device, in any universe, capable of restoring our home. Optimus, we needed that"

The rookie snorted slightly for the old bot to hear. He was truly disgusted that Ratchet didn't seem to care that their human friends had been threatened and the Earth almost put in huge jeopardy. The young bot wanted so much to hug Bella close to him but his fear kept him from doing so. He heard the footsteps of Jack, Raf and Miko running on the catwalk over to him as they looked shockingly at Bella.

"How is she?"

"Is she alive?"

"Will she be okay" each of them asked different questions about the older woman hoping that the answer to each of them would be a simple 'yes'. Things were never that simple though. Smokescreen couldn't respond to them because he truly didn't know. He was tempted to call out to Ratchet at the pain he felt in his spark at the sight of the red head so out of it.

"What happened to her?" he had to know. He already knew Starscream was the one to attack her. The seeker being the one to hurt her so bad but he had to know exactly what happened.

The three teens looked to each other. They could hear the sadness in Smokescreen's voice. It was almost trembling like he was on the verge of breaking down into tears. Jack was the one to bare the weight of the story "she met up with us after school, while she was out for walk, and offered to get us all food but on our way there Bella was the first to notice a decepticon in front of us. It was disguised and when we tried going back Starscream blocked our way" Jack found it hard to describe what happened next but when he looked to Smokescreen he knew that the rookie needed to know. "She tried bargaining herself for us but Starscream caught onto her lies and when she told us to run she remained to distract them but…he struck her hard against a wall"

Smokescreen could truly feel lubricant building up under his optics but he didn't want show such weakness in front of the others. "Bella, save us even if we did get caught" Raf pushed his glasses up his nose as they began to fall. Each of the young humans looking down as if they were already mourning her.

Knowing that standing around feeling guilty that he wasn't there for her wasn't helping her Smokescreen readjusted his posture "I need to get her to a hospital and fast" nothing was more important to him now than her well-being.

The young bot looked to his leader waiting for permission that he so desired. Optimus nodded before looking over to the only femme in the room "Arcee, open a bridge for Smokescreen and Isabella to a hospital out of the state"

The small femme almost ran to the bridge controls. Small beeps coming from the console as she programmed it before activating it. Everyone watched and waited as the rookie slide Isabella into Optimus gentle servos so that he could transform without moving her too much. Once in his Indy 500 form Smokescreen opened his passenger door and allowed Optimus to place her inside. "Smokescreen, make sure she is taken care of and return as quickly as you can. We do not know of the decepticons next intentions. We must be ready"

Sliding a seatbelt over her body to secure in Smokescreen registered his leaders orders "copy that" he kept his voice serious and formal so that he wouldn't let his emotions get the better of him. Smokescreen didn't want to sit around any longer so when he was sure she was secure he put the pedal to the metal and drove as fast as he could through the bridge and out into an area he wasn't familiar with. That didn't matter too much at that moment though; he trusted Arcee. There was a hospital not far away and that was where he needed to get to.


	9. Chapter 9: Thoughts and feelings

**You'll never be alone again**

**Chapter 9: Thoughts and feelings**

Pain. That was the last thing she remembered feeling and the now it was the first thing she was feeling. Bella groaned, her head feeling like it was about to explode from the pounding headache. Her muscles ached so much that it hurt even when she wasn't moving. She tried to take in a steady breath but she only cringed as it felt as if a knife was stabbed right through her chest. Her fists clenched trying to deal with the sting that came with every breath she took. Then she began to get irritated at the continuous beeping that sound not far from her. Immediately Bella could tell she was in a hospital. The heart monitor reassuring her that she was still alive and not yet dead; though she felt it.

The smell around her made her nose turn up in disgust at the aroma of cleanliness. Her eyes felt heavy even though they were closed. She tried so hard to open them but her mind just wanted to shut down again and rest. She could sense that she was currently alone, which made her feel a little down. Isabella had heard Smokescreens voice before. She had been so alone and scared in the dark – like she was prisoner in her own mind. But then she heard him. Her favourite autobot had sounded so worried as he apologised to her and promised to get her some help which gave her some comfort knowing he was with her. Isabella only wished she knew what was going on and wished she could help. But now she knew he wasn't with her. She wanted to wake up and be done with this weakness but with the lack of desirable company Bella only gave in to the needed sleep. Her mind slipping back into an unconscious state where she only felt cold and isolated.

The darkness surrounding her again. Something creeping up her back that made her shiver uncontrollably. She closed herself off; her arms hugging around her body as a form of protection. Not that she knew what she was protecting herself from. Her breathing here was shuddery as she tried to fight this weakness she felt growing within her.

The memories from before replaying in her head which only increased the severity of her headache. The last thing she wanted to think about was how she ended up in this state. But the red head couldn't help the pictures flooding back to her. The way Raf, Jack and Miko looked terrified when they saw that they were trapped, it broke her heart. She recalled the feeling of her heart dropping when she saw that they had been trapped by Starscream and his decepticon lackey. But she had supressed that in an attempt to save the others even if it meant that it would put her in danger. Though she never would have imagined it would have cost her a bone or two by being roughly smacked into a wall.

It made Bella really think if she was just a glutton for punishment. It would appear that she could take it considering she was still alive. But she didn't want jinx that.

She wanted to cry away her fears and hope that the pain subsided. "Bells, I'm here" there was a really calm voice that seemed to break through the darkness. Small spells of light brightening around her.

She looked up frantically "Smokescreen?" she could recognise his warming tone in a heartbeat. Only then did she realise he was with her. She wasn't alone. Bella focussed on willing herself to wake up. She wanted to be with him. Taking in a breath to help focus her thoughts the red head reminded herself of the feelings she possessed when she was conscious. The feelings that she could experience from the real world.

A moment more and she sensed it. The heaviness of her eyes and the throbbing pain that ached throughout her entire body. The groans that left her mouth came out in small waves as she tried to move. As annoying as the heart rate monitors were it brought hope to her that she was waking up. She could feel something warm grasping her hand tightly trying to find some comfort. Immediately she knew that Smokescreen was holding on to her and she liked it.

Her eye lids slid open slightly to see the clean surroundings of the hospital she was in. There was a clear different this time however. Smokescreen's holoform sat in the chair right beside her bed. His head hung low as both of his hands clung on to her hand that was laid by her side. The red head managed a small smile as she willed herself to move. She allowed herself to sit up and curl her fingers around the rookie's hands to hold on to him too.

He felt it. He let out a gasp as he looked up to make eye contact with her. "Bella!" instantly he leant in and hugged her form as close as he could to her but when he felt her flinch he pulled away "I'm so sorry. I can't believe you're awake"

She giggled a little knowing he didn't mean any harm when he embraced her. Her voice was weak but she tried her hardest to speak "how long have I been out?"

"A couple of weeks" again the young autobot had a sorrowful look all over his face "I wasn't sure if you'd wake up. The doctors said that you were very weak and just about holding on when I brought you in…said you were a fighter" at the last remark Smokescreen smirked. He agreed with the medical professionals. Isabella was definitely a fighter and he loved that.

Her green gaze tracked his every movement and expression as he tried to scoot closer and closer towards her. It was as if he was afraid that any second now she was going to leave him again. She felt so guilty to make him experience such emotions but if the same thing was going to happen to the teenagers then she was glad to have done it. "Hey, it's okay" she reached her other hand over to clasp both of his firmly "I'm alright. Thanks to you I got where I needed to be" he nodded in understanding but could see that something was bothering him considerably more. She leaned up more even though it caused her some pain so that she was so close to him that she could feel the warmth of the breath that he released. "I'm with you, Smoke. And I don't plan on leaving you" the injured woman brought her hand up towards his face and gently stroked his cheek. She smiled seeing him close his eyes and lean into her touch. He craved it.

"Bells" he faintly whispered her name. Without any self-control he found himself moving closer to her as much as possible. So much so that their lips brushed off one another.

The red head could feel it. Her heart pumping so hard at the excitement which lay before her. "Miss Isabella!" the voice of an energetic nurse rang into the room which made the two of them pull away from each other before anything else could happen. Bella sank back into the softness of the pillows as she tried to ignore the pain that her body had to currently put up with. "You're finally awake. I'll let the doctor know" the nurse left as quickly as she had come in, leaving Smokescreen and Bella alone in silence.

There was a clear blush on the rookies cheeks which made Bella want to hug him close to make him feel less embarrassed. "I'm sorry" he almost couldn't pronounce the words he was so hesitant. Beginning to rub the back of his head was becoming a common gesture as he didn't quite know what else to do "I don't know what came over me". But Bella knew differently. "I…I" he really tried to get another sentence out but Bella didn't want to let him.

Leaning back towards him Bella built up all the strength she had. She reached out and clasped his white autobot shirt into her hands and pulled him towards her. Confused about her actions he propped forward too but he was caught off guard when he felt the warmth of her lips pushed against his.

He didn't question it though. Following the pulsating of his spark he kissed the red head back. Melting into her touch he placed his hand on the back of her head and tried to pull her further into him. The two of them moaned as they forgot about everything else and lost themselves within each other. As the kiss broke the two of them didn't move away from each other; they remained as close as they could get. Lips brushing against the others along with the hot breath they breathed out. Smokescreen hadn't expected such actions from the injured women but it felt so right to him that he gave into this craving that he only just begun to understand. His electric blue eyes looked upon her facial features mesmerised. This woman had weakened him to the point that he didn't feel in control of his actions. She was smiling at him while he could see that she was in clear pain – she was trying her best to hide it from him. The rookie wanted to help her lay back so that she would be somewhat comfortable but he felt the warmth of her plush lips on his and he just gave in. pushing against her again in an attempt to savour her taste.

"Miss Isabella, it's good to see you awake" a joyful male voice spoke up from the entrance of the room. Immediately Smokescreen and Bella withdrew from their close encounter and relaxed back in their places. "Apologies if I interrupted something. How are you feeling today?" he smiled as he approached Bella's bedside and examined the clip board of notes that had been hanging from her bed.

Isabella felt a bit awkward at the doctor's cheery attitude. She wondered if he understood that she had not long woken up from having been attacked by a decepticon. Well of course he most likely didn't know about the decepticons. "My head hurts" she groaned her answer.

"Any pain anywhere else?" she watched as the doctor seemed to write down a few notes with the energetic nurse by his side awaiting some sort of command.

Bella wasn't quite sure at first but the more she concentrated on her body and wanting to move the more she felt this electrical surge of pain soar through her. She nodded to the doctor before elaborating "my arms and my chest"

"We'll administer some pain relief for you" the doctor looked over his shoulder to the nurse and she immediately got to work with giving the red head the medication. "You managed to fracture a bone in your arm and your chest seems to hold some bad bruising. Your bruising seems to indicate a tight grip around you…"

Smokescreen reacted instantly but he made sure not to raise his voice too much "What are you saying? I told you I found her at the bottom of the stairs" Bella didn't miss how Smokescreen shot her a quick glance before returning to glare at the doctor.

She caught on fast. She respected it as well; Smokescreen used the most logical excuse he could muster up. It's not like he could have explained that she had been attacked and thrown about by evil cybertronian robots.

The doctor was going to respond to Smokescreen but Bella made sure to speak first "I'm so stupid, I shouldn't have tried to carry so many things while going down stairs. I couldn't see where I was walking and my foot slipped" she spoke quietly and tried to look upset to make it look as real as possible. The last thing she wanted was the medical professionals to think that Smokescreen hurt her in any way. Not like that. She snuggled into the soft pillows of her bed in an attempt to relax as she reached her hand out to Smokescreen. He graciously took it and stroked the back of her hand with his thumb.

The doctor return the clipboard to its place "apologies. I'd like to keep you in for observation before discharging you. If you need anything please don't hesitate to call" he gave a small smile before departing with the nurse on his heel. They left in silence and Smokescreen and Bella watched until they were sure they were alone again. Bella squeezed on Smokescreens hand as she thought about how she actually ended up in a hospital.

Tears began pooling up in her eyes the more she thought it over. Different scenarios played time and time again about how things could have been different for them. The rookie didn't miss how upset the young woman was becoming. He didn't hesitate to react; leaning forward to wipe away all the tears that ran down her cheeks. "Hey, you're ok. I won't let them hurt you again…"

"I just wanted to protect the others" now the tears began to turn into a waterfall "they were waiting for us and I just reacted…I couldn't let them hurt the children" Smokescreen emphasised with her. He knew he would have done the same thing in her situation.

Getting up from the chair he was sitting on the rookie carefully plonked himself down beside her. He opened his arms up to which she greatly welcomed. "Starscream took you and the others to Cybertron and demanded us to exchange the Omega Keys for you"

Bella couldn't believe what she was hearing. She never wanted this. She wished she had fought more, stayed conscious. Maybe then none of it would have happened "You didn't do it did you?"

"Do you think I could stand to see you bleeding in a glass container with no way of getting you back without handing over those keys?" somehow Bella looked disappointed, she never wanted him to give up his home so easily. "Bells, I was so scared for you. I was going to give them my Omega Key for you no matter if Optimus ordered it or not"

Bella's crying only continued and didn't stop now. He had unintentionally made her more upset. "You shouldn't have given up your home for me, I'm disposable. But your planet isn't and your team needs you to get it back so your people can live peacefully again" so much emotion expressed in so many words.

"You are no more disposable than my planet. I would give up those keys time and time again to save you" now the rookie was getting emotional. He hated seeing Bella injured. He held her closer to him and kissed her on her forehead for comfort. "What matters now is that you're safe" he stroked her hair to help comfort her and immediately noticed how her breathing relaxed. If he didn't know better he would have guessed that she was sleeping but he watched her stare around the room. "The decepticons are powerful. They found the base and blew it to pieces" he knew he had to tell her and this seemed like as good as time as ever.

Bella then began to panic "the others? Are they…"

"Fine. Optimus made sure to bridge everyone out to different locations before it blew but…" he looked down a little saddened by the memories that plagued his processor. "But Optimus chose to stay behind to destroy the bridge so the decepticons couldn't follow us"

Bella really couldn't say anything. She was too shocked that it had come to this. So many thoughts now plagued her mind. How could she have missed this? She had left Smokescreen to not only continue to fight the decepticons but also put extra stress on him as she put herself in danger. She didn't regret trying to save the teens but she did regret leaving Smokescreen alone on this. "I'm so sorry, Smoke" tears pooled in her eyes faster and faster until she could no longer hold them back.

The rookie acted on instinct making sure to lay beside her and hold her close to him. He tried wiping away every tear and streak it left away but they just kept falling. "It's okay. I'm right here" he then stroked her hair to help calm her shaking body "none of this is your fault".

"But if I hadn't have…" Smokescreen didn't let the red head finish her sentence. He knew if he did it would be all she would think of. Regretting wasn't going to do anything for them right now.

"As much as it scared me I'm proud of what you did. I would have done the same so don't do that. Don't put all this on you. The cons are the ones to blame and they will pay" he made sure to talk slow to her so that she understood.

Bella focussed on her breathing. There was still an ache in her chest. She wasn't quite sure if that was because of her injuries or what Smokescreen had told her but her frantic breathing wasn't helping. Taking in a deep breath she recognised the smell of Smokescreen and tried to concentrate on it. She tried to describe the sweetness of it in her head before exhaling and repeating the process. "Optimus" saying his name just made her want to cry again but she needed to know "is he…"

"Barely alive" Isabella preferred Smokescreens honesty but that didn't mean it didn't still hurt. Smokescreen bowed his head as he began to tell the rest of the tale. "I wanted to get you to a hospital so bad but I felt just as bad knowing Optimus' fate so I found a safe place for you and doubled back through the bridge. But it was already blown to pieces and Optimus was barely online. I pulled him from the wreckage and hid him in a cavern but he's badly damaged and I don't know where he bridged Ratchet so I can't get him help" Bella watched him closely and when he seemed like he was done she placed her hand under his chin to lift it so she could look into his eyes. "I didn't know how to help him so I came straight back to you. Luckily Optimus bridged us within a decent driving distance"

Bella nodded in understanding. She couldn't blame him for wanting to help and the fact that the rookie was still able to get her to a hospital was impressive. She tried to snuggle herself closer to Smokescreens holoform and felt the echo of his pulsating spark. It relaxed her a lot better than any anaesthetic could. "Thank you, Smokescreen".

The two of them made eye contact and for that small moment they both forgot about their troubles. They were already so close to each other that they could feel their hot breaths bouncing of one another. They didn't flinch or even have to think about it as their lips met in the middle again. Each pushing themselves against the other in an attempt to feel the warmth and passion that was there. After a minute they had to break apart to allow oxygen back into her lungs and it was then that Smokescreen decided to speak his mind; knowing that this was the best opportunity he was going to get. "I was so scared of losing you, Bells. My spark ached so much that I thought my processor was going to shut down…It made me realise how much I care for you. How much I don't want to live without you…How much I love you" his innocent eyes just stared at her hoping that he hadn't freaked her out with his words.

She didn't seem uncomfortable though. Instead she seemed quite the opposite. Bella absorbed the words and felt her heart beating that little bit faster hearing the three words that she never thought she'd hear from the rookie but ones she had no problem saying herself. Smiling she pushed her lips against his in a sweet kiss before calming his nerves "I love you, Smokescreen".

Both of them felt the thrum from Smokescreens chest as a reaction to her words and the two of them then instantly snuggled into each other, hoping to get as close as possible. They wanted to savour the moment where there was no fighting and no distraction. Though it wasn't in the best of circumstances.

The red head then began to worry what the others would think. Is this going to be acceptable to them? She hoped so because no one made her feel so wanted and special then Smokescreen and she loved being with him. No matter what she wanted to make this work. Her thoughts then turned to the severely wounded autobot leader. If anything he needed to survive so that the autobot cause could live on. The blow that the others would take at his death would be horrifying. Bella remembered what Smokescreen said. Optimus needed desperate medical attention which meant Ratchet needed to be located or Smokescreen needed to go scavenging for the right equipment. But he wasn't, instead he was lying with her in the hospital bed. As much as it pained her to say it; she didn't need the rookie right now. He had gotten her the help she needed and now the autobots needed him. She didn't want to ruin a perfect moment but the world needed the rookie now.

"I don't want to lose you, Smokescreen. But this war is bigger than both of us and the others need you" Bella withdrew her arms from around the holoform and sat up to look at him seriously "Optimus needs you and you can't help them from here"

The young autobot knew what she was trying to say and agreed. He so desired to stay with her until the human doctors cleared her to leave but then he'd be ignoring the bigger problem. Megatron and his decepticons had taken Jasper and now has the power to destroy the human race while the autobots were now scattered and on the run. Something had to be done. Sitting up himself, Smokescreen stretched and sighed. He looked out of the window for a few moments as he thought. He'd been wanting a chance to prove himself as a great warrior and this was it but he wasn't feeling it. The situation was too extreme and he didn't need to prove himself anymore. The rookie didn't have to ask but he was already aware that Isabella thought he was a great warrior and that was good enough for him. "You need to go to him and do whatever you can, Smoke. Even if it is just simply sitting by his side in his last moments so that he isn't alone"

At that Smokescreens attention raced back to his red head. He didn't want to accept that Optimus was going to offline but he remembered the leader's state. Sparking and barely alive to begin with. "Your right, I know. But I don't know what to do. I'm meant to follow orders and I'm alone…"

Bella placed her hand under his chin and forced him to make eye contact with her "You are never alone, Smoke. Just because you're a soldier doesn't mean that you don't have instincts or the ability to do what you think is right. You weren't exactly following orders by going back for Optimus remember" Bella then placed her other hand over where his spark would be "listen to what this tells you and don't always over think it. When the time comes, you'll know what to do" she smiled to him as she saw the change in his facial expression.

Smokescreen seemed to have found some confidence. He looked strong and full of energy again like he was ready to take on Megatron himself. But even then that would be risky. The gladiator was too strong for him. Optimus was their only chance there to take down Megatron and his newly constructed fortress, and Smokescreen was Optimus' only hope at the current moment. Smokescreen took in a strong deep breath and rose to his feet. Taking Bella's hands in his he placed a gentle kiss on the top of each before taking a step back. "I'll be back as soon as I can" he smirked at the red head and winked before offlining his holoform allowing it to dissipate into thin air like it was never there to begin with.

Revving his engine hard with this new felt determination. The young autobot saw Bella's form looking out her window at him as he decided to show off by reversing back hard and braking so he drifted round and then tore off towards the exit and onto the open road.

Bella had no idea where Smokescreen had safely stashed Optimus but she trusted him with her life to know that it would be somewhere that the decepticons would not think to look. She had to admire the rookie's way of thinking, none of the other autobots would have used such initiative. Protocol would be the first thing that their processor would think of and act upon. Tiredness then overwhelmed her. The young woman still needed plenty of rest in order to properly recover from her injuries. Returning to her hospital bed she pulled the covers over half her body before allowing herself to find comfort in the softness of the materials. Closing her eyes she thought of Smokescreen and nothing else as she felt herself drifting away into a deep slumber.

**A/N: Sorry it's been so long guy but a lot has been going on recently. Poor excuse I know but I'm not abandoning this. **


End file.
